Goebel Family

April 29, 2009

Donate Today!! Counting Down to the OC Marathon 5K Walk

There are 2 new BLOG posts so don't forget to read both :)
We are so excited for the Orange County Marathon 5K walk on Sunday! To donate visit http://www.active.com/donate/EAOC/stridesforskylen A big Thank You to Kelly and Tracey for donating, it means so much to our family!! Check out the latest edition of Newsweek magazine, it has multiple articles on Epilepsy and is a must read. On Monday of last week, Chevy our 7-year-old dog, was diagnosed with Epilepsy. I know, I know, what are the odds??? Her seizures only happen when she is very excited and smells dogs, like when she goes to Petco and the Vet. She was at the vet last Monday for a routine visit and had a major Epileptic seizure and a small one on Friday when she went back for a teeth cleaning. Luckily she doesn't need daily medication, we just need to give her medication before vet visits and no more trips to Petco.
On Sunday we went to an Angel's game and met our friends Sprout, Liz and Tylor. We had lots of fun and the kids loved running around the Stadium. Go Angels!!!
Last week we took Skylen to get Chest X-Rays and an EKG to make sure her heart was normal. She didn't display any problems for us to think she needed to go, but with her recent medical conditions I wanted to rule out all possibilities. Her Neurologist and Pediatrician both said her heart sounds good but they would give us a referral just to be safe. Good thing they did because on Monday she was diagnosed with a Heart Murmur. Her Chest X-Ray and EKG both came back normal but the Pediatric Cardiologist said she can hear a Heart Murmur. The doctor said it is not related to her Epilepsy and we are waiting for an Ecocardiogram to be scheduled to see the size of the hole. The doctor explained that its probably nothing to worry about. Although we love our Neurologist and Pediatrician it proves an all to familiar point, to advocate for your children best health. Never go against your instincts!

My final thought for this BLOG Post:

Life must be understood backwards, but... it must be lived forward

Skylen at the doctors

Chris, Sprout and Cayden

Liz and Tylor

Cayden, Skylen and Tylor

Me and Cayden

Mike, Chris, Brent and Jeremy at the Cornerstone Party

Mom G , Chris and Dad G

Me and Holly

Cayden and Chris at Shoguns

Nana, Skylen and Pops at Shoguns

April 20, 2009

Strides for Skylen

Hello friends and family! As many of you know our little girl, Skylen was diagnosed with Epilepsy earlier this year. Nothing could have prepared us when the doctor said “your daughter has epilepsy”. Those four words changed our life! With her on anti-seizure medication we headed home with little information on Epilepsy. There was NO information on toddlers with Epilepsy and had no idea where to start. After hours of research and dozens of phone calls we found the Epilepsy Alliance of Orange County and found hope. They educated us about different tests, procedures, medication and options that were available. Most of all they taught us to seek multiple opinions. With this knowledge we knew what questions to ask and tests to request. Although it’s been a long five months since Skylen’s diagnoses we have made great strides! Please help by joining Strides for Skylen in the Orange County Marathon on May 3rd benefiting the Epilepsy Alliance of Orange County. Since Skylen was 18-months old when diagnosed our goal is to raise $1,800. All donations are greatly appreciated and will help make strides in many families with children who have Epilepsy! Visit http://www.active.com/donate/EAOC/stridesforskylen

Cayden had a cute Easter performace at school where his class performed for the parents and finished with an Egg hunt. He and his buddy Mike were too cute in their bunny attire! Check out the video below. We love his school! We had a great Easter with our family! First we had an Egg hunt at our house then headed to Grandma and Grandpa Goebel's house for a fun Egg hunt, lunch and baseball in the backyard. Then we came back to our house for dinner and more Easter surprises with Nana, Pops, Uncle Travis and Rick (Travis' roomate). Thanks for all our Easter fun!

Cayden started hitting from his T-Ball coach and is doing awesome on his team! Skylen loves dance and seeing her friend Natile (Mike's sister). They are too cute!

This is a video of Cayden (in blue shirt) at his Easter Performance doing the Bunny Hop

April 5, 2009

Only a life lived for others is a life worth living!

Over the last month we celebrated Grandma Goebel's Birthday and Nana and Pops' anniversary on March 3rd! Skylen had her MRI and did very well! Her results came back normal. She also had a few issues with her medication levels being too low so we had to almost double the dosage and the level went back to normal. Cayden started Tiny-Tee Baseball and has played in many games. He loves playing baseball and most days can't get enough! We had a fun trip to Disneyland where we realized how much Cayden had grown because he made the height requirement for rides he didn't in November. He loved it! We took a trip to Arizona for Spring Training and had a blast! We watched the Cubbies, Angels and Padres. The kids had a fun time getting baseballs and autographs from the players. We even met a few Hall-of-fame players!!! Holly and I took the kids to Wilson Creek Winery for Easter Pictures which turned out precious. Skylen had an appointment in LA at the end of March so early in the morning we decided to stay the night. We walked through Universal City Walk, ate and Bubba Gumps and the next morning we went to the doctors. Dr. Nathan discussed with us a 5-day EEG test for Skylen. The EEG test will show any seizure activity. This will help diagnose the exact type of Epilepsy so Skylen can be on the correct medication. Not being on the correct medication can cause major problems in the future. She is scheduled for May 18th - 22nd. She will be taken off her medication slowly before her test and stay in the hospital for 5-days, hooked up to the EEG machine, with us provoking her to have seizures (sleep deprivation, being upset, etc.). I will be able to stay with her at all times and Chris will be there during the day. After the doctor's we stopped by to bring flowers to my Grandma's grave site. She passed away 1 year ago on March 22nd. She was a very special, inspirational and loving person who always saw the good in people. I miss her very much and feel so blessed to have so many wonderful memories! We finished the day at Disneyland for some fun! In our next BLOG I will be talking to you about joining "Strides for Skylen" our fundraising walking team for the Orange County Marathon which benefits The Epilepsy Alliance of OC. Till then, take care and we love you!

Grandma, Skylen and Cayden early 2008

Disneyland - Pucker up!

Savannah, Hannah, Skylen and Cayden

Best Friends Forever!
BTW - We both PASSED our Real Estate Exam!

Disneyland

Disney's California Adventure

Phoenix Zoo

The Giraffes were Cayden's favorite, so much

he wouldn't turn around for a picture.

Go Angels!!

Go Cubbies!

Cardinal's Tiny Tee Baseball

My first Baseball Game!

Grandma's Birthday

(Cayden was Woody, Buzz and a Baseball Player for dinner)

PJ Day at School

February 18, 2009

The central struggle of parenthood is to let our hopes for our children outwiegh our fears

It's been a while since the last BLOG Update so we have lots to catch you up on! Even though Da Bear's weren't playing we decided to host a Super Bowl Party and had a ton of fun! We signed Cayden up for Pony Tiny Tee Baseball. He is on the Cardinals and his first practice is Thursday, as long as it doesn't rain, and his first game it March 7th. He was so excited when he got his new cleats he wore them till he fell asleep. Skylen started a Tap/Ballet combo dance class and goes every Monday morning. She's been to two classes so far and enjoys every minute of it! Happy Birthday to Grandpa Goebel, who turned 60 years young on February 9th!!! We hope everyone had a happy Valentine's Day! Cayden had a Valentine's party at school and enjoyed passing out his Valentines to all his friends. It was great to see the excitement in their face when they opened all their Valentines. We went out to dinner and then to a comedy show with our friends Holly, Brent, Jaimie and Brandon for Valentines. It was a blast! The comedians were so funny, the guys were in tears!

On February 6th Skylen went for a 3rd opinion with Dr. Nathan in Los Angeles. She was great with Skylen and has ordered more tests to ensure an accurate diagnosis. She agrees that its Epilepsy, but since there are over 20 different types of Epilepsy and 22 different Epilepsy syndromes its important to be correctly diagnosed. The other Neurologists didn't find it necessary for the extra tests, we disagree! She went in on Tuesday to get a 24-hour EEG, we took her back on Wednesday to get it removed. This test should show her brain activity while having a seizure. We were very surprised how well she did with the test because she had to wear a backpack while she walked around and never tried to take it off or pull on the head piece. She's amazing! If the EEG comes back inconclusive, she will have to do a 72-hour EEG in the hospital. She is also scheduled for an MRI on March 3rd.