We have been in AL for almost two years now. Frightening thought, considering that I had anticipated better care for the boys here and ended up with less than they had before. To date, they have seen 4 Pediatric Neurologist, 1 Geneticist and still just spinning our wheels as far as the “why.” Currently, we are traveling longer than we were from MS to New Orleans just to see a Pediatric Neurologist who at least seems to have the ability to think outside the box. I still would never leave MS given the chance to do that over!
I don’t think anything could have prepared me for this journey with Brett, even Brynn’s journey was so different, looking back seems less stressful and complicated in comparison.
Tonight, Brett had a mild seizure as he walked down the hall towards his room for bed. I stood there talking to him and when he was ready we proceeded to his room. I read their Warrior Devotional, said our prayers, kissed both my warrior boys on the cheek and headed out the room. Brett’s headphones are broken, so he wanted to listen to his music on his iPod dock. Simple, but unacceptable to Brynn who had to take an Ativan minutes before because he was slurring speech, racing thoughts just spouting out and his left arm was jerking in those familiar myoclonic twitches, all signs it was not going to be a good night. So argue they did and Brynn took the iPod from Brett and slung it to the bottom of the bed. Abigail calls out “Brett’s having a seizure.” Indeed, he is, so I get the magnet and swipe.
He seems to come around and I assume that’s all. I explain to Brynn that his headphones are broken and it would be nice if he could listen to K-Love to go to sleep. I find K-Love, wait for the play button and for it to load and ahhh, a lovely song is playing. All this time Brett has been tummy down on his bed with his chin on his arm on top the wood low headboard. I say “Brett, scoot down and lay right.” To which he answers, “Who’s Brett?” I ask him if he is okay and he looks at me, and I know by the look he has no clue who I am. So I find myself standing there thinking, how wrong it is that this is “normal” in my world. Nothing could have prepared me for the heart-shattering pain and fear I felt the first time I heard those words, yet here I am staring at my precious blue-eyed baby boy who just said them and I didn’t feel panic. As with any other part of our
Epilepsy journey, and many others like us, I was not informed or prepared to ever hear those words. So many things that have happened have been exactly the same. I can’t tell you how many times I have stayed up and researched all night something that happened just trying to make sense of it. I never heard about SUDEP until I read about Danny on Dannydid.com. Ms. Willa who did Brynn’s first EEG told me, “It’s okay Momma, people don’t die from seizures.” The very first Pediatric Neurologist Brynn saw after his first known Tonic Clonic while sleeping said, “People don’t have seizures while sleeping, he won’t have another at night it will be during the day, if he has another, everyone is allowed one.” The second Pediatric Neurologist said, “His Cognitive challenges and seizures are not related.” I never heard nocturnal seizures, even though Brynn had his first Tonic Clonic seizure while sleeping until I researched it. Thankfully, we went for a second opinion and stayed there for a few years, long enough to be educated, eventually get Brett diagnosed as well. I have been known to say that no one gave me a book, a pamphlet or even some printouts that could explain most of what we have had to get blindsided with. I imagine it would be frightening to tell a parent, one day your child may not know their own name, how old they are and they may become afraid of you because they do not know who you are. I still feel as though if I had the proper knowledge it may have been less scary and could have saved me hours researching the medical literature available online! Hopefully, we will make some progress soon. I feel it’s important to get those answers, the why my two boys have this obviously genetic seizure disorder and where do we go from here would be nice too!
So here’s to you dear parent with a newly diagnosed with epilepsy child.
1. There are at least a thousand things that could happen and very few are positive things. The most important advice I can give is to take it one day at a time and keep a really good seizure journal describing every detail until you figure out what type they are.
2. Epilepsy can damage the brain, but most seizures do not. If you feel that your child is showing signs of regression find a psychologist or neuropsychologist and get testing done. This will not only give you a reference point should true regression occur, but it will likely also help you understand and strengths and weaknesses your child has.
3. Changes are going to happen. It’s rare to come across a parent who says that their child always has the same exact seizures at the same exact times. For most parents this can be the most frustrating part. You can never know when it will happen and this can cause a lot of stress and anxiety for a parent if the seizures become or remain intractable. This is also known to cause stress on marriage and friendships. It is imperative that you have a support system in place. Know the symptoms of Caregiver burnout, especially if you have other stressors in your family dynamics:
http://www.helpguide.org/articles/stress/caregiving-stress-and-burnout.htm
4. Please, I cannot stress enough how important it is to learn the basics of seizure types and their symptoms. I posted about this not long ago:
https://epilepsywarriorboys.com/2016/04/04/what-does-epilepsy-look-like-anyway/
5. Find other parents! There are several groups on facebook, you can find them by searching on facebook for “Child Epilepsy,” or similar terms and you may even have a local support group. Contact your local or State Epilepsy Foundation.
6. Know when to seek a Level 3/4 Epilepsy Center. The guidelines are here:
http://www.naec-epilepsy.org/spec_care/guidelines.htm
and to locate one use this link:
http://www.naec-epilepsy.org/find.htm
EEG
Moved, Settled and been to the BIG city!
We have moved, settled… Been to the Biggest Children’s Hospital we have ever seen (3rd largest in the U.S.) and saw a new Epileptologist. We moved to Alabama, and have adjusted to a lot of changes pretty well so far. We are in the city, never lived in a city like this before! A big shock and change for us, having been primarily in the country for the last 20 years! Had a visit with a new Epileptologist, that was “interesting.” A bit different than what we have grown accustomed to.
Brynn and Brett will both be having PET scans, better MRI’s and 5-7 day Epilepsy Monitoring Unit EEG’s. Our last visit in New
Orleans, was bitter sweet. I really hated leaving the Neurologist that we all loved and we all knew he cared for the boys greatly. It will be good for the boys to have better testing done and we can only hope that through this we will get answers and prayerfully solutions. The boys were not very impressed with the new Dr., perhaps just a little sad about loosing what they were comfortable
with. I will remain positive and keep pushing through until the testing is done, and we feel the new facility out a little better. I did manage to get a copy of Brett’s 10 minute Complex Partial picked up in N.O.’s EMU, although it’s just the EEG and not him like I wanted.
We successfully weaned Brynn of Zonegran and switched to Fycompa, a new drug. Brynn’s random jerks have returned, we are unsure if it is a seizure type or a side effect only the test will give that answer… He is overdue an EEG to look at activity/background , so it will be good to have another, and an extended EMU stay can catch so much more than a shorter stay too. The drawback is that it is outside their normal envirement, and sometimes that makes it harder to catch seizures.
Brynnon is still going strong, having his better than ever baseline of seizures. Not exactly sure whether to give the credit to the VNS or Onfi… or even both, but we are very grateful for the reduction! Brett, who had been doing a bit better seizure wise, developed heat intolerance and gets a fever when he goes outside. It is a side effect of Topamax so we added Lamictal and tried to wean the Topamax, only to see a return of the constant visual auras, tummy auras and the longer Complex Partials. We raised it back, but haven’t been able to get the same level of control yet. Brett is having somewhat of a good response to the medications he is currently taking. We are seeing a lot less fear involved in the seizures and they are much less dramatic. Actually, they are a lot like Brynnon’s daytime seizures now. Brett’s nighttime activity is still much better as well. We have picked a trainer and are fund raising for a Seizure Service Dog. Her name is Blue! We were inspired to name her Blue after hearing the song Blue Does, By: Blue October.
She is a German Shepherd and will be trained by Guardian of the Night K9. She will be trained to alert for seizures, assist the boys when postictal and so many other things! We are pretty excited about Blue! We have already raised her deposit and only have $3,500 left to get her trained and home! I bet we will all sleep better with Blue in the house and finaly not feel on edge all the time! She will be an official, vested, certified ADI Service Dog and will go everywhere we go! So, there ya go… an update! Short and sweet, just the way you like them!
As always, thanks for your Love, Prayers and Support!!
~Denise and Family
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Comfort through the why…

2 Corinthians 1:3-7 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer.
And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort.At times in this Epilepsy journey, I find myself questioning WHY? Why do my boys have to suffer like this. It doesn’t seem fair that they have seizures, that they struggle to hold memories, that they struggle to learn. It doesn’t seem fair that we have to face every day, not knowing what the day will hold, not knowing at any moment when another seizure will hit. It doesn’t seem fair at all, I know it must not seem fair to them. As with most things in my life I struggle with, I think about what I would tell someone who came to me with the same struggle. The answer is simple… The Father is not going to give us all the same struggle, but every human being will struggle with something. I never imagined that we would be in this struggle. Life was so wonderful looking back, but I remember struggle then too. Of course looking back, I have to giggle at myself at the little stuff that I thought was so awful, so heavy, so overwhelming at the time. At the time it seemed like the worst, now it seems like it was no big deal. It’s about perspective. We hold the ability as humans to keep a
positive or negative perspective. It’s difficult at times to keep a positive perspective, especially when you feel overwhelmed. The more you focus on the negative the bigger it seems and the greater difficulty you face in finding positive again. I am reminding myself daily, that the Father is still in control… and no matter how it looks or feels He has a plan. I look at Brynn and Brett, amazed at their strength and perseverance.
Surely, the Father has a wonderful plan for their lives. How many people will they be able to help years from now, who are struggling with seizures. They are true Warriors, Fighting Epilepsy one day and one seizure at a time. What a wonderful testimony they will have, to stand firm one day and tell their stories. Brett received a lovely Hernando Bear to comfort him during his VNS implant surgery and healing. It was sponsored by: Angels 4 Epilepsy, TG Bears and donations by group members. He will be going in less than two weeks to meet with the neurosurgeon about his VNS implant surgery. Brynn had his implanted on Oct. 25, 2012, we believe it has helped reduce the number of seizures that generalize and perhaps even reduce his postictal lengths as well. We feel it is a good option for Brett too and should be at least somewhat beneficial.
Brynn has recently had either a return of daytime seizures or an awakening to realize they are happening, no way to know really. It’s new for him to “know and express” that he has had a seizure. He has remained somewhat stable over the past several months. Staying at the baseline of
2-4 seizures a week. Brett is still on a roller coaster, having one, two or clusters of 6 or more almost daily. Both boys now have the diagnosis of Refractory Cryptogenic Focal Epilepsy. (Meaning they have a cause that is unidentified, are resistant to medical treatment and have focus areas where the seizures start)The Courtagen Epilepsy Panel revealed no answers as to the cause of Brett and we assume Brynn’s Epilepsy cause. We obtained and are now using seizure journals from the National Seizure Disorders Foundation (the Foundation that is sponsoring Brynn & Brett’s Seizure Service Dogs fund raising). They are beautiful and make seizure journaling so much easier than our printed pages, which were hard to keep together! They can be found here, if anyone is interested:
http://nationalseizuredisordersfoundation.org/my-seizure-journal-2014/ ….Back to the scripture I started with. I think people may assume that when it says comfort, that it means rescue. The Father comforts us by encouraging, strengthening you and giving you hope. When you come out on the other side you will be able to comfort others. I hope that you will be comforted, in whatever struggle you are going through. I hope that through Brynn and Brett’s Epilepsy Journey, we will always find a way to see the good and focus on the positive. I HOPE for the day that we can comfort others in the same path, having overcame the struggle, the pain and the uncertainty of Epilepsy. We must remain steadfast in faith, that one day, videos like this one will no longer be recorded our home.
New Year off to a good start!
I am really liking this year so far!
Brynn’s 8 week Depakene wean in COMPLETE! Only noticed an increase in small seizures and some increased daytime tiredness, which seems to be leveling off now. We are enjoying his stability seizure wise, with only 1-3 larger seizures a week. Not sure if it is the VNS or the Zonegran increase that is making it possible, I guess time will tell! Even the larger seizures he seems to bounce back from easier and have less effects afterwards. We will go back to Children‘s hospital next week for his VNS increase. I dofeel so much more relaxed with the last several weeks feeling so positive for Brynn. I worry when he sleeps 12-14 hours a day, but if he is not having a seizure increase I can see, I remind myself that he may just need that extra sleep. Will still discuss it with the Neurologist as we know he has seizures we cannot see also. Excited to get our tax refund in a few weeks to help fund fresh new materials for home school. I purchased McGuffy’s Readers for Brynn and he seems to like them so far. A change from the Merrill Readers he has used for so long. I hope that we can bring him to at least the 1.5 level in Reading with them. We have pulled Sequential Spelling from our curriculum as well. It started with his Neuro stating in the office that if he needs assistance in any way to answer the questions (additional statements or questions) it is not counted as right. He couldn‘t answer where he was (Children’s Hospital), What city he was in (New Orleans), What day it was or even what Month we were in. We had talked about going to the appointment on Tuesday, in New Orleans at Children‘s for weeks. He writes the month and day everyday in his home school. I was kind of upset at first thinking, but it’s not his fault that he needs reminders or hints. It’s just the way his brain works, he has to have something to tie things together. He knows New Orleans is where the Super Dome is and he knows Children’s is the Hospital he goes to. After the initial shock that he couldn’t answer, I was upset. I was upset because it got me thinking, well if he can only spell “should” if you give clues (Should, would, could-U should know this) then does he really know how to spell should? If you have to say anything to get the right answer, is it right? My gut ached as I realized, no it’s not. It feels better to think it is, but in the real world it’s wrong. If after 2+ years of giving those reminders in the AVKO Sequential Spelling he still cannot spell those words without me sounding them out for him and giving hints, I must conclude that he has not been successful with it. So we started an old Jones Spelling book. He will be given three words every Monday to dictate sentences for. I will write the sentences and he will copy and read them a few times a day. On Friday
he will be given the sentences and be asked to write them. It’s his sentences, that he made up, so he will be connected to them. Hopefully, this will give better results than spelling 25 words a day has. Brett (8) is Reading at a 3rd grade level, so he will begin to use Alpha Omega LifePacs this year. He is confident and able to work independently, which will allow more time for me to work one on one with Brynn. Abigail will be working in Pre-K to keep her busy! 🙂 I will be buying Brynn lots of work books focused heavily on inferencing, Context Clues, Writing, Punctuation and Thinking Skills. After discussing things with a teacher friend of mine, she helped me realize the reality that he is 13, and he just may never read above a first grade level. I knew this before, but I thought if we worked hard enough he would advance forward over time. He has stayed at this same exact level for almost two years now. So at this point we need to focus on fine tuning the skills that he has attained as we add more, hoping that he will retain them. Deep down inside I am a bit excited to see if this lower seizure baseline will stay as it certainly will help his cognitive function. I will be asking about Neuropsychological testing again at this visit. As it is important to know what if any impact the past seizures have had on his overall ability.
A real beautiful person, the swing lady I talked about before, is sending the boys and Abigail $100 gift cards to spend on clothing. What a blessing! She is also giving a $200 gift card for household stuff. I think I see a new set of pots in my future! 🙂 We are definitely more at peace here in MS, the air is cleaner and our minds are too! I am learning to trust in our Abba Father and lean on Him for understanding instead of fighting through all the details myself, trying to figure it all out. Learning too, that we don’t have to understand every single thing, we just have to trust Him and His will in all things and know that it will all work out for His Glory. I have done all I can do, now I will stand and trust Him! He who began a good work in me, will be faithful to complete it!
~Denise
Dealing with the Present and the Past… 21 Years is too long…
We made the trip to New Orleans to have the settings set higher on Brynnons VNS Implant. I really wanted to visit with my Dad, who is now 78. I didn’t get to meet him until 1995 in person, while expecting Brandon just before we moved to MS. As a youngster, I passed notes and to him through a cousin I went to school with. I even mailed letters and pictures through an Aunt I found by looking in the phone book and calling everyone with my “old” last name. I wanted to see him, he is not getting any younger and every time we talk he says it’s been 5 years since he saw the children. So we went the night before Brynn’s appointment on Monday night November 12th. We got a bite to eat, checked in to the Hotel, brought our bags up to the room and left to go to Dad’s. I had a hard time getting around trying to remember how to get there… My mind was frazzled and forgetful. Too much to think about I suppose. Everything reminded me about Momma and riding around with her to and from the office. There we were, passing the very building she was murdered in, on the exact day she was murdered 21 years later.
I thought it appropriate to take a photo of the moment, I do not think I have ever been at that building on the very day in all the 21 years. So hard to believe that she has been gone that long… Even harder to believe that all of us who loved her have not done anything to make the truth known about her murder. That is exactly what I intend on doing. If any of those that she loved would have been brutally murdered like she was, she would not have let 21 years pass without making sure everyone knew exactly Who did it and Why. So many unanswered questions, and those responsible never had to answer for their part in her murder. It’s just been swept under the rug… in hopes that no one would ever pick it up and start sorting through the details. As I stood there at that building I wondered what keys it still holds to this day. Is there DNA evidence still there? Do the guilty still live in the area? How much of what the Police told us is actually true?
Why did they not do anything, why did they fight so hard to let the guilty walk? Who really knows the truth and why after all these years have they not talked? There were a million memories and a million questions fighting for my time in the moments that I stood at the very door.. I remembered being there with Momma when we highlighted my hair… and I remembered going to pick her up and going to the thrift shop for something to do. I thought about the talks we had, the laughs and the serious talks about God and life. I also thought about all those unanswered questions and I thought about what she would look like now, what she would sound like and even what she would smell like now.
When I think of her laughing, I can hear her… When I think of our talks, I can hear her voice as if she is right here. She had this way about her of telling you exactly like it was. She didn’t bite her tongue, but she wasn’t rude or cruel either. I laugh sometimes when I wonder what she would say about something… knowing full well she wouldn’t approve and would tell me so. I wish I could remember every talk we ever had and I wish I could remember every detail about her case. I wish too that it never happened and I could share my life with her. I wish I could walk in the door of that old house and see
her standing ironing clothes while MASH or Perry Mason plays on the TV. I hate that I have to remember that she was taken like she was. That a human being was so full of hate and rage that they were able to stab a beautiful, loving, unselfish, dedicated Woman and Mother like her 21 times. I hate that we had that uneasy time of separation and rebellion in my older teenage years as I became a woman and stretched my wings and left the nest. I am so thankful that we were able to repair our relationship and build many happy memories before her murder. We will never have the ability to undo what was done, but it is our responsibility as those she loved and cherished to at the very least, let her memory remain alive and a blessing always. Her memory is a blessing in my life, I just wish I had more of them. I guess I will always feel like we had so many more moments to share…
The next morning we got up, got ready… ate I Hop for breakfast and went to Children’s Hospital. Brynnons VNS settings were upped, but his Neuro decided we will have to take his adjustments a bit slower than usual. He seems to be extra sensitive to it. He coughed when the magnet was used before the settings were raised and said he felt like he would throw up. Now that he has gotten use to it, he doesn’t feel sick anymore. When the VNS comes on he says Ahhhhhh, as it makes his voice sound like a robot. He did this the first day every 5 minutes when it came on. Now it’s getting further and further apart as he adjust to having it happen. Sometimes he talks through it now and doesn;t pause and say Ahhhh… I have talked with a few people who say that it feels like a tickle or a choking sensation when it comes on. He is doing much better with it now! We will return in December to have it adjusted higher again, unless his seizures surpass his baseline again and we can go in sooner if that happens. Yes, he is back at his baseline again! The Zonegran increase does seem to be holding on and doing it’s job… So thankful! We talked about Brynn needing to learn to swallow a pill. His Neuro decided that instead of weaning Depakene he would like to try him on Depakote ER (Depakene is the liquid form). He says that the Extended Release may work better and his dose could possibly be lower. It could explain why he has breakthroughs because the liquids of these drugs tend to work in waves, whereas the ER would stay constant. Seems to make sense to me and I am all for it. Told Brynnon I will give him $5 if he can swallow an M&M and $1 for a Skittle. Cognitively he has made some progress with the Zonegran as well. His processing speed has gained enough to make a noticeable difference when he is talking sometimes. The Neuro feels this is due to the decrease in the little seizures that we cannot see. I will be anxious to see another EEG report with the VNS to see what the difference is once the settings are where they need to be. I wish we could just get a 24 hour Video EEG once a month! That would make it so much easier to know where we are and where we are going! The Neurosurgeon says his incisions look great! They are healing very nicely and are just about completely closed now. The nurse told him the VNS is part of your body now. You need to know where it is and get familiar with it. It’s okay to touch it and feel it, it is part of you! Brynn seemed to like this idea and has been very interested in it since she told him that. He asked me what if the battery needs
changed and I explained that they will have to do surgery again, but this time they will only replace the part in your chest. He asked if they will connect the wires to the new one, and I said yeah… cool huh? Then he asked what if we change our mind, what if I don’t want it anymore. I told him that they can turn it off but they usually will leave it in. He seemed disturbed by this. He asked why, so I told him they can take out the part in your chest, but the wires will always be there. We hope that this is the answer for Brynn and that some day SOON he will be sEiZuRe FrEe!!!
REMEMBER…
~ November is Epilepsy Awareness Month!! ~
Children’s trip update
Brynn’s appointment went well. Dr. Einstein was there today after he sent the Intern in… I gave a good lecture to the Intern who will become a Pediatrician soon. Explained to her that Brynn should have been diagnosed at two years of age or even earlier. Explained that his symptoms were overlooked and explained with “Night Terrors, Infant Gas, Articulation Disorder ect.) Told her that I made a promise to myself that I would tell this to every Intern and Pediatrician I come in contact with. If someone would have listened to me many years ago we could have helped him a lot sooner. We are going to schedule a trip down to chat with Surgeon about VNS and set the VNS implant surgery date. He thinks it will be a valuable tool for Brynn, but cautioned me on thinking it is a cure for him. He said we can Hope for a 50% reduction, but he doesn’t expect it to be that for Brynn. I appreciated his honesty. I expressed my fear of the future and said I want it because I want to have any tool that could potentially stop status, he understood and agreed that it is important to have any available tool to help Brynn.
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Brynn 12 Brett7 |
He said because he is Refractory and failed so many meds he doesn’t see him being seizure free, but it is important to only do one change at a time. By the way, if he has failed so many, why is still on all the failed ones except Trileptal? We are going up to 400 mg on Zonegran. We’ll keep the Depakene at 1,250 mg twice daily, Vimpat 200 mg twice daily and Klonopin .5. Once Brynn gets back and stays at his baseline average of four seizures a week for a while we will try to wean Depakene and introduce Onfi, since Brynn’s brain seems to like Benzo’s. While doing the Neurological exam he noticed the small seizures I have been asking about for two years now, asked me if I noticed him spacing out… Told him he has always done it, he said he didn’t notice it before. Told him I call it checking out, that sometimes he goes back to what he was doing, sometimes he doesn’t remember what he was doing.
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Tera 22, Abigail 2 and Brynn 12 |
Of course this is probably seizure activity that we cannot see and he said once we get the big ones under control we need to work on those as surely they effect his daily function. So thankful he noticed them… His Neuropsychological report from a year ago questions is this is happening because he noticed it while spending time with Brynn. His 3 day EEG even mentions seizure spikes with no clinical signs. So, productive visit for Brynn… many more questions for Mom… Still feeling insecure about all this, as I don’t feel like my Brynn is safe. I still daily fight fear of what if, when and why. On the why, we talked about that too. He said he just doesn’t feel like we will get anything back from genetic
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Brandon 17, Abigail 2 |
testing. Even if we did it would not change anything. I said well at least I would know WHAT it is. He said we cannot go in and rewire his brain, it’s just not wired correctly. There is not easy fix here and having a name for it is not going to change it. I disagree, but respect and understand his opinion as a physician. I am in hopes that increasing the Zonegran will bring positive changes… and I am looking forward to ANY change for the better that the VNS will give Brynn. He suggested I wait on the Neuropsychological re-testing, as he needs to be in better Neurological shape for it to be accurate, to see where he is in comparison to his baseline cognitive function before that horrible seizure that took away two years. He looked at the 2006, 2009, 2010, 2011 & 2012 writing samples from Brynn’s home school. He wouldn’t talk about regression, says it’s Cognitive Disability. Not looking forward to that trip again, but perhaps we can get a room next time and actually visit family. There is always Ronald McDonald house for the Surgery day. Here’s to HOPE… and lots of it! It’s all in YHVH’s hands anyway, what do they know… I got a message while at the Dr. and my phone was off. The buyers for our property were approved for the loan, so looks like we will be moving really soon… No idea where, LOL It’s all in the Father’s hands… Don’t want to make any more poor decisions like we did coming here. We will walk away with considerably less than our down payment… and loose all other funds we spent getting Bri’s room built and so on… Oh well, live and learn… boy did we! Kind of excited about what the future could bring… ~Denise