Help Jack Help Sick Kids: One Cup at a Time
Seven year old Jack started having severe seizures before the age of one. Soon after he was diagnosed with intractable epilepsy which is a category of epilepsy that does not respond to medications. He was placed on a strict Ketogenic diet which is high in fat and low in carbs and his seizures decreased, but not enough.
In January of this year he underwent brain surgery which removed part of his brain to control the seizures. This is actually a dual-surgery procedure that calls for two different surgeries a week apart, because of bleeding on the brain, Jack had a third surgery as well. The surgery was a success, he was transferred to Bloorview Kids Rehab Centre for two months and went home to a very relieved mom, dad and little brother in March.
Watch the amazing video after the jump.
One percent of children are diagnosed with epilepsy and one-quarter of them may have the kind of epilepsy that is resistant to treatments. I can only imagine how difficult that would be for a family and how you would feel totally dependent on your medical care. Throughout Jack’s treatments he and his family have been a huge booster for Sick Kids Hospital in Toronto. At 4-year old Jack’s insistence his family started a lemonade stand in 2007. It has grown and grown and at last count Jack’s Lemonade raised over $150,000 for the Sick Kids Foundation that funds innovative research at the hospital. The lemonade stand has grown into a huge Oakville event, more like a fair then a lemonade stand and has become an inspiration to other kids who want to fundraise. The big event is this weekend on May 29.
I can not fully encapsulate what this family (and other families with epilepsy) have gone through. Jack’s family put together a video showing their journey. Grab some hankies, I have watched it many times and I have cried each time, both for the family and for my own luck to have escaped spending time at Sick Kids. For more on Jack’s surgery check out his mother’s blog. And don’t forget to go get some lemonade this weekend.
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