Shortly after Eliana's massive seizure I noticed at night she would sometimes hold her breath. 3 years later and it has become sleep apnea. Recently we've noticed she has been snoring very loud and sounds of like being choked. It got to the point where we noticed she would hold her breath for long periods of time. My husband and i took her into the Dr to schedule a sleep study
just checked in the sleep center
we bought her a new Doc shirt to make her feel extra special
Ana's meal of choice.... SALAD!
and One Direction P.J.'s!
After getting comfortable with the new environment Eliana got hooked up. All these wire will detect seizures, what type of sleep she is in , oxygen levels and to see what type if any sleep apnea she is having.
The Results came in and i was and wasn't shocked! The study shows Eliana had stopped breathing 163 times anywhere from 25-40 seconds at a time! I was so scared to here that my daughter was experiencing that! What makes things worse it that since the sleep study we have noticed that she has gotten even worse with her breathing and her asthma has been flaring up which doesn't help this situation. At least we know the severity of this and we are going to have surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids. We believe that after this short in and out surgery she will have more energy. she will do better in school and will help with her seizures!
May 21st is a Day to celebrate. Why do you ask? Because it my daughter Eliana's birthday, 5th birthday to be exact! You see, There was a couple times when there was a chance she wasn't going to see this day. Eliana has Epilepsy and she has had 2 massive seizures that nearly cost her precious life. Doctors told us our Eliana wasn't going to make it through both times, They just didn't know how strong our Eliana is. Elian miraculously pulled through! But the bumpy road did not end there. For the next 3 years she will endure pokes and pricks due to testing, a cancer scare, traveling all the way to California to UCLA, have learning and speech troubles in school, be evaluated for Autism and develop severe sleep apnea which lead her to stop breathing 163 times a night! I didn't name everything that she has endured but just this what you see is so much for a 5 year old! This is why to our family Eliana's birthday day is a day to celebrate!
The morning of Eliana's Birthday she woke up and was thrilled that she was 5! She Had Breakfast pancakes upon her request of course! Then she watched a half of an episode of Doc Mc Stuffins! Doc is her favorite cartoon because she too wants to be a doctor when she grows up! Then we were off for morning photo shoot. We took some shots around the house. And of course we HAD to incorporate the Doc stethoscope!
Eliana loves Doc Mc Stuffins , So I made here these OVER THE TOP Doc / Medical hair bows !These bows are PACKED with everything and mini doctors tools are even present in the bows!
Jumping on the Trampoline and looking Fabulous!!
click to see where I purchased this Yard Stake
Here she is talking to her Grandma! I got this Epilepsy Awareness yard stake on etsy.
Before school she wanted to play on he scooter. I was so lucky to get this shot of her looking back at me. I love it!
Oh yeah I'm 5!!!
Now to go to school and pass out her birthday treats! Nope they're not cupcakes! They're these adorable chocolates. There is one in the shape of a present and one in the shape of a medallion with a #5 in the center! We put them in small treat bags and added a topper with some scrapbook paper!
Here we are at Sho-Gun Here they make the Japanese food right in front of you!
The Restaurant brought Eliana some ice cream with a candle in it.
Her cake!
Our Family
Eliana was BEYOND excited when she saw all of her Doc Mc Stuffins Gifts!
It's Been a While since I've hoped on here to share what has been going on with my daughter. There has been a few ups and downs and some changes that has taken place.
So where do I start?
Well How about school... The last you heard Eliana may be having to go into full-time Special Education. Well that has changed, She now will have a aid that will help her for one hour through the day with the things that she struggles with. Going through the first year of school I thought she did fairly well. There is still many things that she can not do. When I go into her classroom you see all the kids art work on the wall and Eliana's is the easiest to spot becuse she is the one that has noting or close to nothing on the page or she can't write her name, Identify letters ,number and colors. However she is able to stay in class and see the other kids perform at or above grade level and that can be a good way for her to push herself and to have goals. She is in speech therapy at school But I just don't know if it is actually helping. I was really surprised when Eliana told me that they were not even seeing her. I was shocked that no one notified me. I have noticed her speech slipping a little. And it is strange because sometimes my baby can talk perfectly fine and most days she is stuttering so much she cant get a complete sentence out with out. For a while she opted to just not talk. and I'm so happy that she is out of that. Our family is very vocal and I'm hoping that we are setting the example for her to speak and explain what it is that she wants. For so long people would tell me they never heard her speak and it wasn't until one day I took a step back and told our eldest daughter to really notice if she was talking or not. It sounds really strange but my daughter would just look at me or murmur and noise and to me it was her talking because I knew exactly what she wanted without hearing the exact words... My daughter was the same way. We realized it was true she didn't really talk and we had to make some changes. Even know I have to check myself when I find here slipping into that habit of not speaking. Overall she is becoming more vocal . We are working with her to assist her in her education and finding ways to reach her.
This is an ongoing process for us all, and she may get frustrated with things but my baby alwasy has a smile on her face and keeps pressing forward dispite the hardships she has in her way. Ilove her for that amongst so many other things. She so strong.. I love you Eliana.
Does anyone know of any online course and games to help children with speech and letter number and color recognition? Please leave it below and I'll check it out!
The Results came in and i was and wasn't shocked! The study shows Eliana had stopped breathing 163 times anywhere from 25-40 seconds at a time! I was so scared to here that my daughter was experiencing that! What makes things worse it that since the sleep study we have noticed that she has gotten even worse with her breathing and her asthma has been flaring up which doesn't help this situation. At least we know the severity of this and we are going to have surgery to remove her tonsils and adenoids. We believe that after this short in and out surgery she will have more energy. she will do better in school and will help with her seizures!
