Kinley fall adventures

Well the first half of her junior year of high school for Kinley is almost complete!  Time to catch up my tens of readers on the last few months of life back in Kansas.  We arrived in Wichita on July 13th and we were reunited with our belongings on July 19th so that was a hoot.  Over Labor Day weekend we headed to the Branson, MO area in search of the closest thing to mountains we could find......the Ozark hills.  It was very scenic country and we enjoyed our time there including a trip to Silver Dollar City and the Branson Landing shopping area.  After two days of fun we headed back to Wichita and the school routine was revved back up.  Kinley is really liking her experience at Maize High as there is a tremendous culture there of respect and inclusion for the special needs students.  She is involved with Friendship Club, Tri-County Sports, Pep Club, and even got to cheer on the sidelines at a couple of football games!

The big health scare of the fall was a pretty violent tonic-clonic seizure that happened around midnight in early September.  We called 911 and got her to the hospital where she was evaluated overnight and examined by a neurologist.  She had been having some small absence seizures (staring / out of it for a few seconds) so we were starting to get concerned.  The doc put her on a new medication and she has been seizure free since late September so we are very grateful for that.  Overall she has been very healthy and is enjoying school so that is all any parent of a teenager can ask for.......except for maybe a constant angelic attitude.  I can dream right?  Stay tuned for the next post about a curveball that we just were thrown by our school district in the last few weeks!

Going Home

Five years ago we moved from Wichita, KS to Parker, CO and it was a great decision for our family.  Children's Hospital Colorado in Aurora has provided excellent care for Kinley including a major surgery (spinal fusion) in 2013.  The cooler summers (especially in the evenings) have been easier for us to do more outdoor activities without the heat/humidity wearing Kinley down.  The opportunity to go to MDA summer camp in the mountains has been an amazing opportunity for Kinley as well as allowing Suzie and I to get away for a week each summer to  explore beautiful places like Vail, Steamboat Springs, and Breckenridge.  We have been blessed to have incredible neighbors and friends as well as wonderful school communities that have nurtured and challenged Kinley from 6th through 10th grade.  As recently as a year ago I never thought we would move or at least not anytime soon.  Yet as I type this tonight we are less than 72 hours from moving back home to Wichita.  There are multiple reasons for the decision but really it comes down to family.  We wanted to be close to family again and also believe the smaller community could be the best setting for Kinley after she finishes high school and begins the pathway to adulthood.  We believe she is much stronger than she was five years ago and that we can take the precautions to  manage the hot summers.  So far everything has worked out and fallen right into place for the move.  We sold our home in three days and for over the asking price (crazy real estate market out here).  I was able to find a new job with an industrial equipment supplier in Kansas City that needed an outside sales rep in Wichita and I start on August 1st.  We found a great house during a holiday weekend trip to Wichita and will move in this coming week.  I guess this transition was supposed to happen and we are grateful all has gone so smoothly.  Kinley is growing up so fast and we are excited about her being able to reunite with friends in Wichita and also to be able to spend more time with grandparents and other family.  Will sign off now as have to get up early and...........you guessed it............pack!

One year in one post.

Well this is embarrassing.  Over a year has passed since I have updated this blog and so much has happened since April 2015..........let me see if I can catch everyone up! 

Camping:  We had a great time last summer/fall with our travel trailer and enjoyed camping with friends in beautiful Colorado!  Kinley loved the nightly campfires, smores, and having our dog Maddie sleep with us in the camper.

Health:  Our main challenge this past year has been to try new medications in an effort to improve her Parkinsonism symptoms i.e. tremors in hands and arms.  She has added two meds and while we have seen some positive change in symptoms we had hoped for more consistent results.  On a more encouraging note she recently has been able to stop taking her lone seizure medication and so far there have been no signs of any seizure activity. Yea!  We also recently entered into a family DNA exome sequencing test program so we are excited to see if this yields any new information regarding Kinley's original diagnosis or treatment.  They took blood samples from all three of us and we should get the results back in late June or early July.  I'm not sure if a flu shot or a blood draw is #1 on Kinley's Things I Hate To Do list but it has to be one of those.  Brushing teeth and turning down the sound on her I-pad are top contenders too but I digress.

School:  Kinley is wrapping up her sophomore year at Chaparral High School next week.  Holy cow this cannot be happening!  Where did my pre-schooler go??  She has continued to thrive socially while working hard to achieve her academic and physical goals set out in her IEP.  The staff and students at Chap have been amazing and she is a proud Wolverine!!

The Future:  Our family has decided to move back to Wichita, KS this summer to be close to family and life long friends again.  Kinley is sad to be leaving her friends here in Colorado but excited about reuniting with old classmates in the Maize, KS school district and also being in the same city as her grandparents.  We are looking forward to house hunting there soon and also re-introducing ourselves to humidity and wind.  Ha!

See you soon Wichita......cheers!