Challenge Accepted...

Well, this year has proved itself not to disappoint. I told 2018 to, “Bring It!” and that it did. It accepted the challenge by throwing a bout of seizures at Mom 17 days into the new year. Just as Mom’s back was starting to give her less trouble she was hit with seizures. Seizures are not at all pleasant for those who have the curse of experiencing them firsthand, and they are just as troubling for anyone who must witness them in action. This was reality for both Mom and Dad on this particular day. The seizures occurred early in the morning just after Mom woke up and was in the process of going through her daily routine; let’s just say it was a bad start to the day. As for us girls, when your phone rings and flashing across the screen is a call from an all too familiar name at an all too unfamiliar time, you know something is up. The only thing left to do is answer with a cautious, “Hello,” and brace yourself. The day started off abruptly for everyone, but most of all for Mom. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital where she was accompanied by Dad. He knows us well and before we even had the chance to bless him with our company in the emergency department, he told us to stay home. We were good girls and obeyed. He is a caring father and told us to stay home because he was looking out for the best interest of us and our families. I’m sure it’s not because of our incessant talking, the millions of questions we ask, and the inappropriate giggling that occurs when we are all together in a stressful situation...We have been known to get the nervous giggles! And the “we,” here is referring to just us Groff girls...not Dad in case you were wondering. When the giggles begin, he’s more known for giving this look of disbelief with his arms crossed while slowly shaking his head back and forth followed by the question, “What’s the matter with you girls?” At which point we have finally broke him and he, too, is trying not to smirk. Well whatever the reasons, we obeyed our father and waited to ask the millions of questions when he called with updates. And we left the incessant talking and inappropriate giggles for when we delivered the updates through the sister phone chain. As you can imagine, Mom’s day looked a bit different than the rest of ours. She was struggling more than any of us. The uncontrolled electric activity in her brain left her unable to walk or talk. She was aware of what was going on around her, but her thoughts never made it past her mind. They were stuck there. She could articulate nothing, but at the same time had soOOOoo much to say. She also completely lost the use of her right side. But we have a God who cares for us and on this particular day, He blessed Mom with knowledgeable doctors and the gift of drugs to do amazing things. After just one dose of medicine the seizures slowed down which then allowed Mom’s body to start to slowly recover. Hour by hour she was making slight improvements. And after an MRI, an EEG, along with a number of blood draws, tests, and an entire day spent in the ER she was well enough to go home. She was well but not great. She was walking with her walker but not nearly as gracefully as she had been prior to the seizures. To put it simply, she was weak and uncoordinated. She still could not talk either. She would get two words out and the rest was babble. Her speech could be compared to that of a baby who is known as a “talker.” Talking babble that even their mother has not the slightest clue of what her child is saying. The only difference with Mom was that she needed us to understand what she wanted to say. So unlike a baby who accepts an endearing smile and nod from their mother who actually has no idea what her child just said, that was not going to cut it for Mom. This was frustrating for her and Dad as they worked through hand gestures and guessing to allow Mom to get her points across. Many of which were never able to be figured out. What started out as a bad day turned into a very LONG day. But a good nights rest, some more doses of medicine in her system, and Gods amazing grace allowed her to wake up the next morning with a bit more strength and the ability to talk in broken sentences. "Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." (Lamentations 3:22-23). Unfortunately, her word choice wasn’t always correct, or related to what she actually meant, so there was still a lot of guessing involved. For example, Mom asked Dad for help moving her oranges when in all actuality she wanted help moving her legs. When I told my kids that story my son commented that string beans would have made more sense. As you can imagine, it kept things interesting to say the least! Fast forward to now and Mom is doing even better. She is still not quite to the level she was at mentally or physically as before the seizures, but she is continuing to improve. And just as 2018 accepted the challenge to “bring it,” God has also been faithful to see us through each moment. He is a good God and it’s often in the valleys that we feel His comfort the most. We praise Him for many things and I want to leave you with just a few blessings that we saw in the midst of this setback. -Since we have started leaving mom alone a couple hours in the morning on the days Dad works, there is a chance she would have been alone when she had the seizures, but Dad was home from work that day. Praise God! -I never want to take for granted the resources we are surrounded by. Ambulances and EMTs that are at your doorstep in a moments notice along with a great hospital with knowledgeable staff within minutes from our homes. Praise God! -Moms improving. It’s been a hard couple weeks since this happened. Mom had come so far and worked so hard and it has been hard for her, and for us to watch, as she struggles from this step backward. It’s been a hard pill for Mom to swallow. But we need to focus on the fact that she is improving. Praise God! -In the midst of all the seizure shenanigans, we received a better diagnosed answer to her back pain. Mom had a compression fracture. I am thankful that she has almost no back pain now. God has used time to heal her back. She can now sit comfortably and move without screaming. Praise God! -Mom received another good MRI report. Things look unchanged since the one taken in December. This is good news and although it does not explain why the seizures occurred, (to the best of their knowledge, the doctors believe it may have been a slight medicine change that was made a couple weeks prior), it is comforting knowing that things in her brain are stable in the big scheme of things. Praise God! -I also want to praise God for the fact that Mom’s legs are healing. In the last update we stressed that her skin is so fragile that she often has sores on her arms and legs. Her one leg in particular was slow to heal. Since then her leg has improved tremendously. Praise God! Pray for Mom as she deals with yet another seizure set back. There have been a number of tears and countless moments of frustration in the last two weeks. Pray for her that her spirits will be lifted. 1 1/2 years of dealing with sickness and its side effects can take its toll. She is an amazing mother, wife, sister, daughter and Mammy but she wishes she could do more in each of these roles. Pray for her as she seeks to honor God through this journey. We again thank you for all your love and support.

Blessings to you all!

-Jenna

(The picture above was taken just a week after the seizures occurred. As you have heard before, "a picture can speak a thousand words." This picture speaks volumes of what a mighty God we serve!)