3/3/08 Update

The new SlammerDogZ / paws4prisons newsletter is out and it is a great one!! Be sure to read the cover story -- as it is painful, touching, and hopeful all in one article. All previous newsletters are also posted at the website listed below. Amanda was featured in one, there was an article about our trip to USPH in another, and this time there is an article about ELLIE, the service dog being trained for Amanda. There are also wonderful articles about Grace Meek, the beautiful and inspiring 9 year old girl in WV that will be receiving COLT and articles about the inmates, dogs, etc. I encourage you to read everything. It is a great program and lives (including ours) are being changed!!! We can't wait until the next trip to WV (hopefully in April, and May, June, July & August - yippee!) to see Grace, the inmates, the dogs, and our paws4people friends again!!!
http://www.SlammerDogZ.org/newsletters

Amanda is doing well. We had a few blips coming down off Topamax but nothing bad. We bumped up her Keppra to a therapeutic level to see if the blips go away. She is in great spirits and is learning a lot and showing off her heightened intellectual skills to therapists, family and friends.

Baby Madeleine, another child in NC with Infantile Spasms whose family we correspond with, is having her hemispherectomy tomorrow (Tues 3/4) so please keep her in your prayers!!! Her parents are having to pay for the whole surgery out of their own pockets so if you know of any good ways to raise $66,ooo, please feel free to contact me. She is a beautiful baby and is blessed to have parents who will go to great lengths to do the best for her.

We have company coming in for spring break. It will be nice to see old friends again. Dan also comes back from Texas today so we will be excited to see him.

Have a blessed day!

Susan