THANK YOU

Hello, this is Traci. I wanted to thank everyone who has donated funds through this blog. The funds are in a donation account set up in honor of the Hales family.
On their behalf I would like to say Thank you from the bottom of our hearts. If you are like me, you have been inspired and encouraged by their steadfast faith in the Lord, no matter what.
Please stand with me and continue to pray about ways to encourage, speak life and hope into their lives and bless them in whatever form you are able. The Hales are a bright light in a dark world as friends and family lets walk along side them in their time of need and not forget about all they are still going through.
Romans 12:12 says
Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer.
Thank you again for those who have already donated, you are a blessing to the Hales. The Hales clearly have a large circle of amazing family and friends... THANK YOU.
Sincerely,
Traci

Claire meets Great Grandpa & Grandma

The first time Claire got to meet her great Grandpa & Grandma.

Bath time...

Claire decided to sleep through her bath...making for a great photo op! Some day she will come to hate me for these pictures. :)

Metolius River...a little slice of Heaven on Earth

Claire wasn't having her best day ever on Sunday, July 11, but we took her to visit my parents who were camping at the Metolius River. I have been camping there since the age of 2, and though we will not be able to camp there this year...I was overjoyed to at least get Claire out of the house and to a most cherished family vacation spot.

July 8

We've officially been home for two weeks. Freedom from hospitals has been a blessing. We are significantly quicker at administering Claire's medications and other needs in a timely manner compared to waiting on nurses to get permission to do virtually anything. We've been able to take Claire on several small outings, which is tremendously rewarding for us.

Let me thank those of you from Morning Star Church and South Salem High School who have prepared meals for us every other night since we've been home. It really does relieve a burden. Thanks to Mary Lucas for coordinating that effort. And thank you again to South Salem High School Teachers for spending a day at our home and cleaning up our much ignored and overgrown yard prior to our arrival back home. Rebecca's workplace, Bank of the Cascades is conducting a Pancake feed on July 31 at the Applebee's in South Salem as a fundraiser for Claire's medical expenses. What wonderful blessing to live in a community so willing to reach out and help. We love you all and cannot thank you enough.

Claire has not really improved since being home. Last Tuesday Claire had her record seizure day at 65. It would likely have been easier to count the times she was not seizing. That was the end of a six day stretch where I couldn't say we really saw our daughter. When she was not seizing, we had her very sedated. That afternoon I spent speaking with the Epileptologist at Doernbecher's and we ended up nearly maxing out one of Claire medications. The move seems to have been effective, because Claire has had fewer seizures and fewer doses of her rescue meds. She has also had several long stretches of behaving like a normal baby. Hopefully this trend continues for awhile and we do not have to adjust her meds further.

Moving forward, we are still waiting to hear back from the List Serve and the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN. If I get any news from either, I will post immediately.