Dear Jude Friend,
Jude had a good month and seemed very happy and content. She had 7 seizures this month, one of which was very violent. When she has these violent seizures I hold her as tight as I can (without hurting her), and keep her as still as I can. Sometimes it feels like her whole body is fighting me to get away, but I don’t let go. I don’t want the seizure to throw her around, which the bad ones will, so I hold on tight until it passes. Even the violent seizures are shorter these days though, lasting around 20-30 seconds. They used to be much longer before we increased her medication.
The other 6 seizures were much smaller, and not violent at all. These seizures don’t require much holding in place, because they don’t throw her around. During all her seizures her bladder will let go about halfway through the seizure, so I try to get a pee pad under her right away, which saves a lot of mess.
Jude had quite a few baths this month, because she has managed to poop, and drag herself through it, quite a few times. When I first get Jude out of bed (her playpen) in the morning, I express her bladder. She won’t, however, let me manually express her colon to get her to poop (we do this with most of the paraplegics). This stresses Jude out too much, so I have to let her do it herself. There is no predicting when she will decide to poop, so she often does it when I am out of the room. Between my partner and myself, someone is home most of the time, so she doesn’t have to stay dirty for long. We always find the mess quickly, clean up her room, and she goes for a bath. I have 2 washable rugs for Jude, so she always has one clean and ready for her. These are the best things I ever bought! Jude doesn’t do well on the hardwood floors, it’s too slippery for her, but she gets around well on her rugs.
The other day Jude was standing up again! She did a couple of steps (kind of), wobbled around a bit, sat down, and stood up again. I’m always so excited when she does this, but she doesn’t do it too often.
Every night before bed I go and spend some time petting Jude. This is the ONLY time of the day she will allow pets without getting cranky, so I make the most of it! I don’t know why she allows, even enjoys, pets late at night (maybe she’s sleepy?), but I am just happy there is a time that she actually enjoys pets. At this time (it’s usually around midnight) I can pet her all down her back, scratch under her chin, and rub her cheeks. She will actually lean into the pets, so she is enjoying it. During the day, or even earlier in the evening, petting her will only lead to growls and rumbles, and she will try to get away from the attention. I still do it sometimes, because I can’t resist her, but I try to limit it and respect her wishes.
I don’t know if I’ve ever told you this before, but Jude snores. They are the cutest little snores—very quiet, but constant little snores. She is so adorable I can’t stand it sometimes!
This month I am sharing pictures of Jude tucked into her bed (playpen) all comfy and cozy.
That’s all the Jude news for now. Thank you so much for all of your support of our little girl. Because of you Jude is happy and healthy and has everything she needs. Jude would like to wish you a Happy Thanksgiving, and she asked if you could save her some turkey.
Your correspondent,
Karina