Eventful past few weeks

[cartman]

Last year, in late February 2017, my Dad and I helped my sister and her kids move to Florida. The reason for the move was my sister got a promotion, and it would also let my nephew see his dad's side of the family. The move was a disaster from the start. The place they had lined up ended up being one step above a crack house, so they obviously didn't move in. Her boyfriend's family let them stay while they looked for a place.

That lasted all of two weeks, as his sister didn't like that my sister was working while my nephew's dad stayed with the kids. Nevermind that he had a job lined up, but it didn't start until the end of March. So she kicked them out, and they spent a night in the car in a parking lot.

They ended up getting a temporary place in a long term stay no-tell motel. Soon after they found and moved into a townhome that was for rent. But there wasn't much stability, as my nephew's dad fell in with his old high school friends and soon disappeared, leaving my sister alone with the kids.

My sister tried to make it work for over a year, but with no support system out there, other than my monthly visits for work to Tampa, she made the decision to move back to Texas at the end of July. My father and I drove out the weekend of July 13th, taking two days to drive from Ft. Worth to Tampa. I worked that week at my client, and my Dad went to help them get things packed and staged for the move. On Saturday the 21st, we rented a 26 foot Penske truck, and got their stuff loaded. On Sunday morning, my Dad got in the Penske, my sister drove her car with my older niece, as well as their two dogs and two cats. In my Grand Cherokee I had my younger niece and my nephew.

Our plan that day was to drive to Hattiesburg, MS, which was just about halfway. We made good time, considering the Penske could only go about 70 max. We hit a huge storm in the Florida Panhandle that blew entire pine trees across Interstate 10. That took a while to get through. But we made it to Hattiesburg around 8pm, and got checked in to our hotel rooms. Headed to Waffle House for dinner, then back to the hotel to get a good night's sleep for the drive to Fort Worth the next day.

At least that was the plan. About 11pm my younger niece started banging on the door of the room where my Dad and I were sleeping. His bed was closest to the door, and he answered it. I was already half asleep, and figured the girls were just fighting or something. I went back to sleep. Next thing I know, my Dad is poking me telling me to get up. It was about 5:45am at this point. He tells me that my older niece had a seizure as she was going to sleep, and was taken to hospital. They were now releasing her, so I needed to go to the hospital to pick her and my sister up. That was probably the strangest message I've ever received immediately after waking up.

Hattiesburg isn't a big city, and the hospital was easy to find. I pick them up, and get the scoop. My niece had ever only suffered one seizure before, about six weeks before this one. The doctor at that time said it was heat stroke and caused by dehydration from being at Disney World all day and not drinking enough. The doc in Mississippi said that was BS, and she needed to be checked by a neurologist ASAP. He didn't want to discharge her, but my sister told them she'd get her to Cooks Children's hospital in Fort Worth for evaluation as soon as we got back.

My sister of course got zero sleep that night, and my dad got about 5 hours. He slept a few more hours that morning, but my sister wasn't able to get any. There was no way she was going to be able to drive. So I went to U-Haul and rented a car carrier, so that I could tow her car back to Fort Worth behind the Jeep. We took everything out of my car and loaded it into hers. My sister then rode in my car, and we added the two dogs to the back as well. My older niece rode with my Dad in the Penske, along with the two cats in their carriers.

We had to go back to the hospital one more time to fill out some paperwork so that her records could be forwarded to the hospital in Fort Worth. We finally got on the road about 2pm. The drive that day was completely uneventful, and we made it to my parent's house a little after midnight. Got her car unloaded, got my stuff out of hers, and got the kids in the house. I then drove to the UHaul place for an after-hours drop off of the car hauler. About 10 minutes after doing so, UHaul calls me and tells me I dropped it off at the wrong location. So I go hook it back up and take it 10 minutes away to the correct location. On the drive there, my Mom calls and tells me I forgot some stuff. I told her to leave it on the porch, and I'll swing by and get it. I do, then head to Dallas to check in to my hotel, because I was also visiting a client that week. I get to the hotel about 2:30am.

I'm a zombie the next day, but get a lot of stuff done for the client on that Tuesday, as well as the rest of the week. My niece goes in for her tests, and on a CAT scan they find scarring on her brain, which might have been since since she was born. She did have water on her brain at birth, but they aren't sure. After closer review of her CAT scan, they come up with a diagnosis of Hippocampal Sclerosis. She's been seeing specialists over the past week and half, and they are trying to figure out the best course of action for her.

In the meantime, I find out that I had to make another trip back out to Tampa last week. Partially for work, and partially to wrap up some issues that weren't closed out on the place they were leasing. I finally made it home last night, after being away since July 13th. Lots to get caught up on. It has been a wild ride as of late.

[Thomkal]

wow eventful doesn't do that justice. I hope they are able to treat your niece completely.

[PilotMan]

I had been wondering where you had been. Largely absent from here and Facebook. That's a rough trip. Hopefully you get youi catch your breath soon.

[HomerSimpson98]

Jeez man. Hope all ends well here too

[Kodos]

I hope they can help out your niece. Sounds like a rough few weeks.

[Lathum]

Wow, hope your niece is OK. Sounds like it will be good for them to be close to family. You're a good guy for doing that for her. I can't even get my sister to visit my kids and we are 15 minutes from her.

[Butter]

Good luck to all, cartman. Especially your niece!

[BYU 14]

Just wow, definitely eventful. Sounds like a much better situation for your sister though and hoping for all the best for your niece. Glad they are back home where she has a support system too!

[Flasch186]

Wow

[JPhillips]

Hope your niece comes through this okay. I'm not sure the seriousness of that diagnosis, but anything brain-related is scary.

[Arles]

Wow, that is a lot to handle. I hope everything tones down for you and your family, especially your niece. Still, they are very lucky to have you there to help.

[MacroGuru]

Prayers, and I hope it relaxes for you and the family.

[Eaglesfan27]

Prayers for everything to improve.

[Edward64]

I'm sure there is a lot of stress on you. Best wishes to you and family and especially your niece.

[cartman]

Thanks guys. I has been a roller coaster. Thing are starting to settle down. My younger niece and nephew got enrolled in their new schools today, and my nephew is starting kindergarten. I did do a bike ride in Fort Worth area (Cleburne) on the 28th. My dad was going to do the ride as well, but he was too sore from the drive and move. It was after that ride I found out I wasn't going back home, but back to Tampa the following week.

Now that they have a diagnosis for my niece, she is handling it a lot better. They gave her some medicine in case she has another seizure, so that is a relief. We'll just have to see where things go.

[cartman]

The news has gotten a lot better for my niece. She had her visit with the neurologist today, and they've moved past the diagnosis of hippocampal sclerosis. After further analysis of the MRI, they no longer think that is the case.

The new diagnosis is indeed epilepsy, with the seizures triggered by stress and migraines. The doctor feels that this is something she likely will grow out of, and is happening now because of all of the physical and biological changes that happen in the teenage years. She goes back in for an EEG at the end of the month, then if nothing strange shows up, she won't have to go back to the doctor again until December.

[Thomkal]

yeah! epilepsy is not something to wish for but a whole lot better than that other thing.

[PilotMan]

Originally Posted by cartman

The news has gotten a lot better for my niece. She had her visit with the neurologist today, and they've moved past the diagnosis of hippocampal sclerosis. After further analysis of the MRI, they no longer think that is the case.

The new diagnosis is indeed epilepsy, with the seizures triggered by stress and migraines. The doctor feels that this is something she likely will grow out of, and is happening now because of all of the physical and biological changes that happen in the teenage years. She goes back in for an EEG at the end of the month, then if nothing strange shows up, she won't have to go back to the doctor again until December.

Oh man, it's such a mixed bag. We are 2 years in to the diagnosis for our youngest. The first medication made him so sick he missed a month of school. It was the worst, but the next one has been solid. He'll be 2 years seizure free come January and they are ready to try and take him off of it. He was 12 when he was diagnosed and he'll be 15 if he can stay seizure free. We're all nervous about coming off of the drugs and we know the success rate is about 70%, but knowing that he could have another seizure and we'd be back to square one forever is really scary. I hope that she does great. It's not an easy thing, but it's not the worst either. My best wishes for her.

[cartman]

So my sister just got out of emergency surgery for appendicitis. The hits keep coming! They caught it in time, so it was a routine procedure.