Back in Dubai and loving it!

Things are back to "normal" again ... yay! Ramadan and Eid are over, A & B are back in school complete with after school activities and swim lessons, and Jennah has resumed therapy sessions at the Rashid Paediatric Center. I love it here. I really don't have much to stress about, so I find things to stress over. Right now, it's the fact that we (the kids and I) have to return to the States in just over 2 months. I love my friends and family there, but I don't want to go. In the long run, we'll have to return for Jennah to receive the best care and schooling, but I'm not ready. A & B's school here is phenomenal compared to the U.S. It's sad, but true.

Ready for 1st day of school back at Royal Dubai School

Our return in January will not be fun at all. I have to complete my last two quarters at UW and receive my MME degree in June 2011. It will definitely require some work. Jennah will have reconstructive hip surgery and we will continue to tackle her seizures. Oh yeah, since my last posting about the 24-hr EEG, we learned that she has not been seizure-free. At all. In fact, she has been having seizures daily and I didn't realize it. Her current medication is at maximum dosage, so I pray that it will work before we have to introduce yet another new medication. This, we get to tackle in January. So no, I don't want to go back. It's not going to be fun and games at all.

Jennah practicing her fab standing skills ... GO Jennah!

So I guess we'll just enjoy what time we have left here. The weather is going to be absolutely perfect in a few weeks so we'll have lots of picnics, and coffee dates outside. I'll go for high tea at fancy hotels with my lovely friends. Inshallah, inshallah. We'll have fun while we can ... lots and lots of fun ... can't wait!

Oh, and look what A won! She was awarded "Sports Performer of the Month"!! I believe she was nominated for her efforts mostly in swimming, but generally, she is a very good sport. She doesn't win very often (actually, she's NEVER won an event!), but she is a very gracious loser and exhibits wonderful sportsmanship while trying her very hardest. I couldn't make it to the assembly when she was awarded ... God knows I tried. I was there, but Jennah wouldn't let me stay. It was a hard day, but we are so proud of you, A!



Well done! We are so proud of you!!



Happy 3rd Birthday, Miss Jennah!

Three years ago today, our lives were flipped upside-down and the world seemed to come to a complete stop. You can reread some of my original posts after Jennah’s birth here: http://sariya76.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!21374023F554B726!607.entry

Jennah fresh out after emergency c-section, pale, not breathing

As with any birth of a child, lives are changed forever as families welcome a new being. However, with Miss Jennah, it felt like we moved into a parallel universe. Everything was unknown. Her very survival was questionable. I could no longer look to the books that I had studied such as, “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” since this was not at all what we were expecting, or even “Your Child’s First Year” since we didn’t know if she would survive her first year at all. Months later we would gain books on epilepsy and cerebral palsy. Not necessarily the books you plan to have on your bookshelf …

Nonetheless, Jennah has been my biggest accomplishment and my pride and joy. She makes my life worth living. Of course, I love my husband and my other two children, but Jennah is the one who is completely dependent on me and will continue to be for a long, long time. I don’t mind one bit and wouldn’t trade our situation in for the world. Lately, I have realized how much I actually enjoy my life. Aside from our exotic living situations, I never get bored. I’m always busy juggling A & B’s schedules and caring for Jennah at the same time. I feel guilty that my hubby has to work day to day and remember those days of going to work every day, drive the same road, enter the same building, sitting my butt on the same old chair, which, let’s face it, we keep the same old chair since it has molded comfortably to your ever growing, ever sagging butt.

With Jennah, there’s always a surprise or something new to tackle. She keeps my life an appreciated challenge. Changes in drugs, changes in her weight, changes in my weight, new abilities that she’s developed, the threat of a seizure or aspiration on her own saliva or spit-up, the occasional diaper blow-out, which would typically be gone with potty training, and heaps of equipment that enables me to care for her day to day. She’s even made me the healthiest and fittest I have ever been. It’s the only way I can keep up with the physical demands of caring for her.

To top it all off, I have AMAZING, and admittedly quite beautiful, friends EVERYWHERE! Be it here in the States, or back in Dubai … or even if I end up in Germany, South Africa, or New Zealand for some odd reason, I have friends who will be there to support me. You are all absolutely amazing … thank you. From the bottom of my heart and the core of my soul, thank you.

And to keep things exciting for Jennah’s 1st week of her 3rd year, we will enjoy a 24-48 hour inpatient stay at Swedish Hospital for a video-monitored EEG. She’ll be hooked up with 20+ electrodes cemented to her head and confined to our hospital room as she is videotaped to record her actions with brain activity. The goal is to see what type of seizure activity may be left and if they are worth treating further to avoid more brain damage. Ideally, we would like to being weaning her from the last medication that she is currently taking. Hard to believe that there was a time during her 1st year when she was on 4 anti-seizure medications simultaneously and has actually tried 10 different types of meds altogether … what a life.

Jennah has now awakened from a little birthday slumber, so off I go to play with one of the best things I have ever made …

Happy Birthday Jennah!!!