The Low:
This week we are taking a detour away from our typical blog post and sharing a more personal update.
Some of you are aware of Elin's recent hospitalization but I am sure some of you are not. The important part is she is home and is doing better so we are thankful it all ended well. Without going into a massive amount of details, the crux of the issue was her epilepsy and having constant seizures that we were unable to control at home with her emergency medication. I took her into Seattle Children's Hospital on Wednesday before Labor Day weekend and she stayed in the ICU for a while and eventually came home late on Saturday afternoon.
When Elin comes home from these episodes we have a pendulum period where she is super lethargic and drowsy and it swings to very alert and having many seizures again. We have to watch her carefully and just cross our fingers she doesn't transition back into another series of unstoppable seizures.
The reason I'm telling you all this is because I know you care and you worry about our family. We are doing ok, not great, but hanging in there. Anya has started school in our new town, as a 6th grader in her first year of middle school. Elin has yet to start school since her recent health episode set her back. The school district has since posted for a one on one nurse to work with Elin and keep her safe at school.
The High:
To completely pivot, I also wanted to share a video that was recently created by Kindering. They asked if they could interview Anya and use our family in a promotional video about their Sibling Support Network. Kindering is the Early Intervention program that supported Elin from 0-3 years old. Anya continued to use Kindering as a support network even after Elin had "graduated" from the program. Kindering hosts a "sibshop" workshop/dinner once a month for the siblings of kids that are neurotypically diverse and/or differently abled. Anya has been attending sibshops since she was 7 years old and continued on through COVID via Zoom.
Many of you have supported Kindering before by donating items to the auction, or attending luncheons or auctions with us, or simply donating to the foundation in Elin's name.
We feel very blessed to have such an awesome network of people that support and champion the causes that hit so close to home for our family.
If you want to see the video please watch below. Anya does an amazing job. We are very proud of both our kids!
And of course a donation link:: https://kindering.org/siblingsupportproject-donation/.