Around Thanksgiving 2010, our daughter Eden was diagnosed with a seizure disorder when she was 9 months old. When she was first diagnosed with her seizure disorder, Eden would have 60 to 70 seizures per day and the neurologists assigned to Eden's case worked diligently to stop them. We spent the next two and half months trying to stop the seizures with no success. Finally, the doctors suggested a medicine that has shown to help the type of seizures Eden has, however there was a risk of Eden losing her eye sight if she took the medicine. This was the first real big decision we had to make with Eden at this point. We were faced with stopping seizures at the stake of losing her eye sight.
On the other hand, if we continued without the new medicine her eye sight would not be affected however she would continue to have seizures which can cause so many forms of developmental delay. Thirdly, the medicine may not actually work and she could still lose eye sight. Through much prayer, we decided to go with the new medication. The new medication ended up taking affect immediately. The next day she had no noticeable (what they call "clinical") seizures. That was a Saturday. The next day (Sunday), Eden had one clinical seizure. Her neurologist increased the dosage slightly and believe it or not, since that time, her dosage has remained the same (despite her growth) and she has continued to maintain with no clinical seizures (a miracle and anointing by God since this is not normal for a low dosage to remain effective).
Since she was diagnosed with this condition, we have spent many days and
hours traveling to Fairfax, VA and Washington D.C. for her medical
care. Since Eden is still at risk of losing eye sight, she has to be evaluated every three months by an Ophthalmologist. Eden also has to undergo many other procedures to include Electroencephalography (EEG). The obvious reason for the EEG is to determine how well the medication is controlling her seizures. You see, even though Eden has not displayed any seizures clinically (visible to our eye), Eden's brain has still been manifesting sub-clinical seizures which means Eden has been having a limited number of seizures internally without any noticeable change externally. Even with this, we accepted with contentment that this would be Eden's "normal" and would trust in God that He would protect her.
Eden has been the best patient a doctor or nurse could ask for through the years. Even though there have been moments where she has said to me (Michael), "Daddy, I don't want to go to the doctor", she has still dealt with the "poking and prodding" with patience, kindness, love, and contentment. We have diligently tried to teach all of our children contentment and Godliness, not matter what the circumstances. In Philippians 4:11 Paul said "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content." Paul also told Timothy in I Timothy 6:6, "But godliness with contentment is great gain." Being content in situations such as what Eden has gone through and is continuing to go through is not easy. However if God's Word says for us to be content, we must strive to do this in order to please Him and ultimately to obtain God's peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7) which in itself is great gain!
After 4+ years of relying on God's goodness and mercy and seeking Him to be content in all things, God has provided a huge blessing for us and Eden. On February 12, 2015, I (Michael) took Eden to Washington D.C. for an overnight Video EEG. Thankfully, my mom could go with me to help while Colleen stayed home to care for Noah, JoyAnna, and Harvest. The last two Video EEGs showed several sub-clinical seizures in Eden's brain. This year however something changed! Eden's neurologist informed us the next morning that there were no seizures (clinical or sub-clinical) detected. Although there was still abnormal activity in the parts of her brain where the seizures previously have manifested themselves, the abnormal activity did not endure long enough to be classified as a seizure. Hearing this news was overwhelming! As I type this now, my eyes fill with tears of joy and thankfulness to God for His providence! As I think back on the years with Eden's medical condition, Paul's words ring true, "...godliness with contentment is great gain!" We could choose to be bitter and angry that God has allowed this to happen to Eden. However, God has richly blessed us and Eden and no matter what happens down the road, we will always seek godliness and contentment.
Below are some pictures of Eden while in the hospital in Washington D.C. The hospital offers all kinds of entertainment for the children when they are there, however I informed Eden ahead of time that since there is a lot of sickness around, we would not be going to the toy room or having the toys come to our room. Therefore, Colleen packed a bag of toys for Eden to play with. Even though hospital staff would have given her anything she wanted, she was content with the situation. We did splurge a little bit though when one of the nurses offered to provide her with "doctor" stuff (e.g., gloves, tape, bandages, lotion, Q-tips, etc.) so she could play "doctor" with her Gee Gee (Michael's mom).
Praise God!
