Dear Jude Friend,
Jude had a rough month of seizures—she had 13! A few of them were just a few seconds long and stopped on their own without the rescue medicine. Others lasted longer and required me to give her the rescue medicine to help the seizure stop. The medicine is incredible and stops the seizure almost instantly. We are trying to give her one of her medications slightly differently to see if it helps. Unfortunately, she is already on high doses of all her medications already, so there’s not too much we can try.

Jude also had some loose stool this month, which she managed to scoot herself through on several occasions. Her stool is doing much better now and the medicine seems to be working. Due to all the seizures (in which her bladder usually lets go) and the loose stool, Jude has also had to endure quite a few baths. As you can see from the picture, a bath makes Jude very angry. Her face says it all—you can literally see what she is thinking. She is so adorably cute, even when she is so angry. Jude loves to be clean though, so once it’s over she is very happy being clean and smelling so good.

Jude got some new crinkle toys for Christmas, which were all under the bed within about 5 minutes. Of course, Mommy pulls them out for her several times a day, so she can do it again.

Jude also received  2 nice, soft blankets for Christmas, which she really loves. Jude loves snuggling up in a soft and warm bed so much, and she looks so content. Once she has eaten a good meal, made sure all the toys are under the bed, and scooted around for a while, she happily puts herself in her big, comfy bed and takes a nap.

I went into Jude’s room the other day, and she was lying upside down.  Her back legs were up in the air, and her front legs were sideways. It was quite a position she had gotten herself into, but she seemed very comfy and content, so I just sat with her and took some photos.

Every so often Jude manages to get herself up on her back legs, and kind of wobbles around for a few seconds. When she does this her hips are swaying back and forth, and she is actually able to stand up briefly. When she does this, we call it the “Jude dance” because it really does look like she dancing. I’ve tried to get a photo or a video, but it’s always over so quickly that I haven’t been able to get it.

That’s all the Jude news for now. As always, thank you so much for your continued support of this wonderful little girl.

Your correspondent,
Karina