June 1, 2008

Oh My! It is hard to believe it is already June! Where did May go? Things are very busy but going well. We now have Amanda down to 1/3 of the dose of Diazapam that she was once on. She continues to do well in her therapies and to be the true sweetheart she always is. May did bring illness to the household, but Amanda handled it pretty well. The week before Amanda got sick, Katie got a nasty cold with double ear infections that required antibiotics. Sure enough, one week later, Amanda caught the cold and also ended up with an ear infection and antibiotics. Of course, the one week that she was sick coincided with our planned trip to USP Hazelton to see the inmates and service dogs. Given her temperature was 100-102 degrees and she was not feeling well at all, we had to cancel the trip. We were all very disappointed. The good news is that we will get to see the inmates again this summer when we go up for boot camp and we will also get to see some of the paws4people gang the weekend of June 6 in Charlotte. The other absolutely fantastic news is that Amanda had a fever for several days and had absolutely no seizure activity - yippee!!! We are very optimistic that we are entering the stage of her life where seizures are a thing of the past.

Katie is almost out of school and is happy to have her End of Grade exams behind her. She is a little sad that this week works out to be her final week at Bellamy Elementary school, which has just been a wonderful school for her. Next year, she will be attending a Christian School about 5 minutes away. She is looking forward to her new adventures but will miss some of her special friends at Bellamy. Katie was also given the opportunity to attend not only the dress rehearsal but also the actual production of the Wizard of Oz. A local journalist writing a story on paws4people was kind enough to arrange this for Katie. She was thrilled and keeps talking about it! It is amazing how many wonderful people Amanda has brought into our lives.

Dan and I finished up our semester and are both out for the summer. We are working on research projects and preparing for the fall semester, while taking advantage of some welcomed rest and relaxation. We are also excited about seeing family and friends, and dogs and inmates during our travels this summer. It should be a great few months of fun family time.

God Bless!

Susan