Alexis was born on August 13th, 2001 in Bozeman, Montana, U.S.A. To a teenage mother Jennifer Abraham. Jennifer went into a premature labor at 6 months and had to be bed ridden until the end of her full term pregancy. Everything developed normally until Alexis was about 3 months old. She began having seizures, and at first they were small and no one thought anything of them, then she had a grand mal seizure in the grocery store in November (Veterans Day), at that time the seizures came on strong and remained uncontrolled for about a weeks time. The doctor here wasn't even sure if she would survive the seizures. Then in her usual fashion she pulled out, and remained seizure free until February when she bagan the infantile spasms, she had over 200 a day, sometimes we lost count. She started ACTH for 6 weeks and luckily survived those odds as well. She is now 3 years old and doing well. She lives with me (her grammy)Karyn Tietz in Bozeman because living with her teenage mother proved a bit much for her to handle.
Update: August 28, 2005
I am writing to give a quick up date on Alexis Abraham. She turned four this August 13th. She is doing well but is still plagged by break through seizures, and we have to constantly adjust her meds, or change them. We have the constipation thing under control, and have been feeding her regular foods processed through a blender, but we go through a blender a month, if anyone can offer suggestions let us know. We looked into restaurant quality blenders but they cost over $500! Ouch. She is going to special needs pre-school through our public schools here in Montana. I am also adopting Alexis officially, she needs me and I need her just as much. She seems to thrive on consistancy and dependability and I'm the girl to give it to her. She offers me so much more than I think I'm ever going to give her, she is quite the teacher. The other day when I picked her up from school I said "where is my girl" And she stopped fidgiting and then listened, and then started jumping around in her little wheel chair. Like she was saying "I know who you are and I'm very glad to hear you". It was the first time she acted like she knew who I was and was really glad to see me. Made me cry.
Update: September 4, 2006
Alexis is doing very well. She continues to grow and change everyday. She now also has her brother Nassir (17 months) living with her, for the most part she enjoys, but she also gets mad at him often (usually for crying or yelling, and even touching her since he is a bit rough). She is starting school again this year (preschool at Whittier Elementary). But she will not have her favorite teacher anymore, and next year she will start kindergarten. She still loves to sing to her own music, but also enjoys classical music. She goes to daycare on a regular basis, I think she likes being around other children. But sometimes I think she’d love to get up and just run and play, maybe someday. And this girl loves her food, her favorite still seems to be carrots and sweet potatoes. But her all time favorite remains chocolate, anything that has chocolate in it is alright by her. Physically she still is about the same, but I keep hoping, sometimes it is an inch at a time that she changes. But always happy and smiling and singing.
09-21-2008
