We saw Dr. Burris November 4th. We wanted to discuss his swollen glands, which we discovered is a side-effect of the Lamictal. Dr. Burris said that he wasn't worried about the swollen glands, but since we weren't having amazing results with the Lamictal, we should go ahead and ween him off the Lamictal and we will try something new.
The new drug is called Vimpat. It has been used in adults for many years (I think 15-20 years), but has only recently (1-2 years) been used in pediatric trials. There has supposedly been great success with it in pediatric patients. It is a drug similar to Keppra (a drug he took about three years ago) in that it doesn't have any interactions with other drugs or major organs. On this drug we need not worry about liver or kidney failure, which is nice. :)
The day that we saw Dr. Burris, we only saw three seizures. THREE SEIZURES!!!!!! We had not changed anything yet with his meds, but we only saw three seizures! We began decreasing the Lamictal the next day, but didn't begin the Vimpat for almost a week after that appointment. Since that day, we have only had three or four "bad" days. What we might consider a bad day in these recent weeks would be a pretty "normal" day just one week earlier. It is obvious that this is not in correlation with medications. It also bears no notable correlation to eating or sleeping habits as those have continued to be the way they've been for a long time. He has even had a cold through some of this time.
We are going to continue giving him the medications as prescribed, but our trust is in God. He is the one who designed Lucas is this fascinating way. He is the one who knows Lucas better than any one else ever could. He is the only one who can truly heal him, so in Him is our faith and our delight.
We hope and pray that you seek Him and welcome His healing in your lives too. There is a lot that goes on in this holiday season, but looking beyond the shopping and even the gift giving and time with loved ones, this is a season of miracles- the miracle of the lights that didn't go out, the miracle of God walking among His creation, the miracle of love that banishes fear and conquers death. May you celebrate what truly matters and enter not only the new year, but each day with the hope and joy that you can be a new creation, healed, transformed and set free by the miracle of His love.
Blessings to you all. We thank God for you all the time. You are blessings in our lives, for sure.
Here are some pictures from the past few months. I'm sure we'll have more after the holidays. :)
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| Fall 2011 |
