I’m a full-time nurse, wife, and a mother of two children…Reece who’s 10 and Nora, who’s 7. Reece was diagnosed at age 5 after his seemingly innocent spells of laughter began to be followed by bouts of staring, confusion, and sleepiness.
After a year of failed treatment with medication, he had a laser ablation at BNI. He was seizure-free for about a month, but his gelastic seizures returned while he was in inpatient therapy in Columbus for deficits resulting from his surgery. Reece’s gelastics seizures continue to this day, but his complex partial seizures that used to accompany them are virtually gone.
Today, life is blissfully uneventful for the most part. We spend our time at home in southern Ohio balancing family, work, school, and church (not necessarily in that order). Reece is a thriving third grader, with some support, in a regular classroom. He enjoys hiking, playing outside with his sister, and Legos.
I felt the need to help other families like I was helped and encouraged through the Hope for HH website and by the wonderful care package I received upon our arrival to Barrow for surgery. They both were lifelines to me.
I believe the greatest obstacle we have to overcome in this journey isn’t necessarily the tumor itself, but the feeling of isolation and believing the lie that you’re all alone fighting this fight. If I can alleviate that burden, even a little, for someone else then I want to help in any way I can. We are truly all in this together.
Interested in Joining Our Team?
If you are interested in becoming a volunteer for Hope for HH, to get the process started we invite you to complete the following Volunteer Inquiry Survey to gather a bit more info about you and your interests.
