Dear Daughter Starting Preschool

I can't believe the time has come, but somehow it has slipped up on us quicker than we imagined. Madilyn will be starting school in August and it's hard to fathom not being with her everyday. every hour and every second. It seems a letter to her is an appropriate way to get out some of the swirling thoughts circling my head. 

Dear Madilyn,

Here we are at the beginning of a new and exciting chapter! Although you are only three, your book has been filled with many scary and hope inspired pages. I have a feeling this will be the most exciting chapter yet. As a mom it's hard not to look back and reflect on some of those chapters as I sit waiting to see what the next few will bring.

Only a year ago we were looking for new medications to stop your seizures. Along with making trips to multiple doctors and hospitals. There were no back to school letters or school supply list, but instead paperwork from your neurosurgeon. We were signing permission slips, but not the kind you will get to see this year. It was permission slips to preform a surgery that would hopefully stop the seizure monster. Instead of back to school shopping for new clothes, we were shopping for PJ's that would button up so we didn't have to try and pull anything over your tender head. I will admit we had fun trying to find the most beautiful headbands to accent your new battle scar. It also became my mission to find as many cute button up shirts as I could.

Here we are today... you are talking about school and friends, and making sure we find you the perfect backpack and lunchbox. I can tell you are so excited about getting to play with kids instead of boring mom all day. I pray that the kids will see you as an equal. Not as someone who is any different. I pray they don't tease you about your pretty angel kisses on your face or your sweet "new" haircut. My hope is that they will see you as a little girl eager to make friends, have fun and even get into a little trouble. I pray that the teachers and staff can see into those blue eyes and see the sweet beautiful soul that I know so well. The soul that has to kiss all of her animals before she sleeps, the sweet soul who will kiss my ouchies and the sweet soul who can instantly tell when you are sad. I pray they get to know the girl that I know and love. But more important than any of these things, I hope your new friends and teachers see you as YOU.

My dear, YOU are perfect, despite your genetic flaws. YOU are strong, whether you want to be or not. And YOU are my hero. You have touched my heart and so many others in a way I can't even explain, and I know you will have the opportunity to shine your light in this new chapter of school.

Madilyn, I love you so much. I will miss our weekdays of fun, but know it's time for you to start this new chapter. Thank you for giving me so much to look forward to and so many lessons of true strength and hope! I can't wait to watch you grow. I know this is only the beginning for you!

love always,
your very sappy momma

Novartis Blogger Summit

As most of you know this blog was started long before tuberous sclerosis or epilepsy was part of our life. The reasons for starting it were quite vain to be frank. I thought people out there would want to know weekly what I was craving and how much weight I had gained through my pregnancy..What was I thinking?? Turns out this would later be a place that I could update everyone on how Madilyn was doing. It became a place that I could write down thoughts that I was unable to speak, it became a place where some of my deepest and darkest fears were placed, and it became a place of refuge to feel as if I could say what I needed without being interrupted.

All of that being said...You can imagine my shock when Novartis Pharmaceuticals asked if I'd be interested in attending a blogger summit in Short Hills, New Jersey. My first thought was, have they read my blog? Do they know that I'm not a "real blogger"?? Why do they want me to come?? There were a ton of thoughts running through my head but before I could ask any of those I said, YES!

The timing was actually poor since I had been traveling most of February and March, but I couldn't say no to something like this. I didn't really even know what this was, but I know I'd kick myself later if I didn't find a way squeeze it in the traveling schedule.

So off to New Jersey I went! I had no clue what to expect, I was given the names of the other women who were going before leaving. I knew most of them and found myself on their blogs leading up to my arrival. You can find their amazing blogs below-

Becky Gaunt- Mixed Up Mommy
Laurisa Ballew-  Land of La
Tina Carver- You Don't Know Jack
Stephanie Lanier- Lanier Landing 


Once I landed I was picked up by a nice gentleman(who held a sign with my name on it..aghhh) who shuttled me to our hotel. I must admit I was nervous... I still didn't know exactly what we were doing here... I started to second guess myself coming!

Not long after my arrival the other women started coming in and we quickly got acquainted in real life :) You see I had only met one of the women in person, the others I felt like I knew very well but only through their facebooks and blogs. It was so so refreshing to sit in a room full of other mom's who knew the battles you have faced or were going to face. We didn't have to explain anything to each other.. it was all just understood. We didn't feel guilty for talking about the crappy parts of our journey and we didn't feel pity. It was soooo refreshing to be in a room full of women who just got it!
 
After catching up we found our way down to a dinner that was hosted by Novartis. We got to know them by playing some ice breaker games and enjoyed a wonderful dinner. After dinner the girls helped me travel into the city...Yes, New York CITY!!! I was so excited and very thankful they were up for a late night trip. We all jokingly said we hadn't slept in years so why not! It was wonderful getting to meet up with another TSC mom who lives in the city. She graciously showed us around and we had a night of laughs and lots of walking. We got back to the hotel room after 2:00 am ready to see what the next day would bring.

Without going into too much detail, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised at how wonderful the day of conference was. They asked us questions about our journey with TSC, what was helpful, what wasn't and how could they help with different resources. It truly felt as if they genuinely cared. And like one of the other mothers said, there weren't any other pharma companies asking how they could help so it was nice! They provided us with knowledge on some of the resources they currently offer and then spoke with us about some that could be coming to us shortly.


Some of those awesome resources can be found here;

Turbo and Scott graphic novel and story book
These books seem to be more for siblings, friends or even other kids around children with TSC. It might be a little too much for those smaller children like Maddie but I can see it being a great thing to have to help educate those children around her.

Resources for Afinitor
This will be a very helpful site for those who are on Afinitor. There is a co-pay card and also a personalized support through treatment and insurance.

(We were not told to share these resources, but I do believe they may be of help to my fellow TSC family)

All in all this trip was amazing. The time spent with the other women was exactly what my soul needed. I truly became very close to them in a short time and feel a very special bond was made. I will definitely remember this weekend for a long time! I'm so thankful for the opportunity to be involved and very thankful Novartis cared enough to listen to us crazy moms!

That's all for now! Make-A-Wish blog coming soon :)



*While I was not paid for my time at the summit, my travel, hotel and food expenses were paid for by Novartis.* 

Catching up!!

This was the first time Maddie left the room for a trip to the play room.

Wow! It has been a long time blogging world :)

I am happy to say the silence has come with a lot of exciting things for our family. As most of you know Madilyn had two brain surgeries back in November. It was by far the hardest thing our family has ever had to go through, but with that being said, it was the best thing we could have ever done. I am so thankful for her wonderful team at Le Bonheur Childrens Hospital! They took excellent care of our sweet girl! I love them like they are family. I am so thankful to say that Madilyn has been seizure free since surgery! It feels like a dream. Waking up in the morning and not immediately being tortured by seizures is such a blessing. We have seen her double in speech and she is learning by leaps and bounds. There really are no words to express our happiness and gratitude. She is still on seizure meds and we are slowly starting to reduce some. So far the weaning process has gone well. We had to push back a drop back in February when she got pneumonia. I was terrified of break through seizures with her high fever but thankful everything went well!

Snuggling up with daddy.

Madilyn loved checking out Karen and Creedon's cool socks!

Sara and Beverly are Madilyn's wish granters. She absolutely loves them!

In December we received the news that Maddie would be getting a wish granted from Make-A-Wish. The news was both exciting and a little sad. When I got the call I started to cry because I knew Maddie deserved this, but seconds after the happiness, my heart felt a crushed. I can promise you never did I expect our baby girl to be approved for something like make-a-wish. When I look into her eyes I don't see a little girl living with a life threatening disease. I see a little girl who has overcome so many obstacles. It is heartbreaking as a parent knowing that this disease is life threatening. But there is NO TIME for feeling sorry for ourselves! After I got out a good cry I made a decision to only let this be a happy time!!! After all she has been through this past year this girl deserves a week of being treated like a princess! Naturally her wish was to go to Disney World to meet all the princesses! I wouldn't have expected anything less from our little princess. We will be going May 3rd-May 9th. I am so thankful we will get this time as a family. We don't know what this disease will bring. We have no clue how long her seizure freedom will last, so instead of sitting around waiting for the world to crash we are living our lives to the fullest! This will be a trip of a lifetime. I can't wait and am so grateful that our Maddie gets this opportunity. I also look forward to partnering with this amazing organization in the future. 

Another big event that happened was getting the opportunity to go back to Washington D.C. with the TS Alliance, to march the hill for funding of the TSCRP. Last year was such a learning experience. I had no clue what I was doing, I just knew I had a story to tell. This year I felt much more confident and knew that the past year of struggles would push me further. I got to speak with 12 different offices, and had a warm reception from all of them. I am sooooo happy to say we actually have a few Oklahoma signers this year. This is the first time since the inception of the TSCRP that an Oklahoma Congressman has signed. When I got the first confirmation I cried the entire way to my next appointment. It was such a relief to feel like we were being heard. I hope that this is something we can count on for years to come. 

Well I could go into much more detail but the "boss" is pulling at me to go play with paint! I hope you all are doing amazing and thank each one of you for praying for our family. God has blessed us in so many ways. We can never say thank you enough for the prayers, and ask that you continue to keep our family in your thoughts and prayers. 

Love always,

Heather