Coral Gables, Florida, July 10, 2009~

Jayne Earhardt here.  Thought I'd update you on what has been going on with our family.

When I last wrote, our second-born child, Micheal Patrick, wasn't doing well at all.  He kept having uncontrollable seizures; he ended up in the hospital a few times because they got to be so bad.  It was a very scary, uneasy time for all of us.

Doctors worked hard to find the right combination of drugs, to see if they could help; thank God, they finally have; however, since our insurance doesn't pay for some of them, we have to pay for some of his meds out of pocket.  It's terrible not having the money to go and do things because we have to spend it on meds to keep our child alive!

Our son has lissencephaly, a brain malformation that caused him to be born with an underdeveloped brain; because of it, he isn't expected to progress beyond the level of a very young infant.  At the age of six, he cannot walk, talk, feed himself, or do much.  It's very heartbreaking to see him have to suffer day in and day out.

Thankfully, Flower, four, and Hugh, ten, our other two children, are healthy; they are very good with their brother, and it makes both Robert and I proud to be their parents.  Sometimes they fight or complain; what child wouldn't when they are faced with a situation like the one we have? 

It's not easy to parent a child who needs total care.  I wouldn't wish it on anyone, not even my worst enemy!  It is a very hard life; it is only by God's grace that we are able to get through it day in and day out.

We have found a school that will take Micheal in as their student.  The school he was at for the past year didn't do much to help him develop (if such a thing were posssible; we remain hopeful that this will happen); they seem to have a good handle on how to help severely disabled children like our son.  So we are going to try it, see what happens.

We had a good Fourth of July:  it was quiet,  with only ourselves.  We didn't go to the parade because Flower decided to have an upset tummy beforhand, so we ended up staying home a good part of the day.  By the time evening rolled around, Flower was feeling much better, so we chanced it and saw the fireworks.  They were beautiful; the kids loved it!

Other than that, nothing new here, besides the meds finally helping Micheal's seizures.  That's a big thing to be excited about; we no longer have to worry about him twitching all over, and disrupting our plans!  He can actually get through several days without any symptoms of seizure activity, which has been a huge answer to prayer!

Well, it's time to feed the kids their lunch (bologna sandwiches for Flower and Hughie, nutritional suppliment via feeding tube for Micheal), so I will go now.  I will write in here with another update soon; until then, this is Jayne Earhardt signing off!  Take care and God bless!

~Love, your friend, Jayne.  :)