Still...Always...Forever?

A picture popped up on my news feed the other day.  A little girl...also diagnosed with a CDKL5 mutation...who was sitting.  I wish I could understand why despite the fact that I have accepted it isn't part of Sonzee's fate, it still tugs at my heart whenever I see a similar type of picture.  I know I shouldn't compare, I know no CDKL5 mutation is good, I know it all sucks.  However, it immediately makes me wonder, "why couldn't that be in the cards for Sonzee?", "why does her mutation not allow her to do that?", "Why did no amount of money or intensive therapy buy her that ability???"

I understand this is part of this journey.  There will always be struggles for Sonzee in essentially every life category, and there will always be struggles for me on the emotional/psychological and in some cases even physical categories.  It is one of those times it is safe to say the word always.  It isn't an exaggeration, it is just a fact.  Situations that have already occurred, ones that have and will continue to reoccur, and the ones we have yet to encounter, there will always be something, thanks to CDKL5 Deficiency Disorder (CDD).

Despite knowing that these situations and feelings are going to continue to pop up it doesn't help. I try not to get too far ahead of myself thinking of things she isn't or won't be able to do as the years continue to go by, but the facts are always there.  Usually right in front of me in such a blunt way that it is hard to ignore, like having to change her diaper at almost 5, or having to carry her like a newborn at almost 5, or having to feed her through various tubes.  I try to wake up each day and tackle it anew, without anything hanging over me, but the fact that this is going to be forever...it makes each little thing that much more difficult.

Rerun

We are more than halfway finished with weaning one of Sonzee's seizure meds.  There is always the initial joy of watching skills return to her that we had somehow forgotten she once had, then there is the brief, but still, present sorrow that presents itself when we realize our choice of medicine is the reason the skills were put on hold.  Pair that with the fact that her seizure presentation was not significantly reduced or impacted by the medication, and knowing that our PEMU stay is going to present another medication as the (what is most certainly not going to be a) solution, and well, that continues to be Sonya's story.

This cycle of repetitious history you would think would make us wiser or at least pave the way to a clearer outcome, but for some reason, our continuous game of groundhog day meets real life is not changing.  Then there is the worst part that we somehow forgot happens when Sonzee is in a medication fog and it becomes temporarily lifted, her endless battle with her GI system.  The whimpering and pain that had seemed to subside, that we were optimistically thinking her gut rest had aided seem to be popping back up here and there.  The Aha moment always catches me off guard, takes me a day or two to actually realize I am entertaining and then smacks into me like a ton of bricks.  The question presents itself, "Was the gut rest and TPN the answer to her pain, or was the increase in her seizure medication masking her ability to process it?".  This answer, like every other one that is asked that would require her to be able to give us the answer, will always remain one of those unknowns.

The potential defeat that would come if the answer is the medication was masking her response to the pain will be so soul-crushing I am not yet at a place to fully even entertain it.  The potential disappointment that would follow if the answer is that the solution was yet again another failed bandaid will just be completely deflating.  Either way, the situation remains "wait and see", the question will soon enough become, "now what? ", and the answer will be whatever is feeling best for us to do for her at that time.