Supporting a Great Cause - Team Lexi

Meet Lexi & My sweet friend Becky!

Over the next couple of weeks I will be featuring a fundraising activity currently underway for Epilepsy Foundation of Arizona.  A very close friend of mine Becky has a little girl named Lexi.  Lexi is two years old and has incredibly huge beautiful blue eyes, and is such a special little lady.  I will share part of her story is just a second, but first I want to share with you some information about the Phoenix Epilepsy Walk that will be coming up on Saturday November 19th at Steele Indian School Park.  If you or anyone you know would like to participate in this great cause, or donate to the cause you can go HERE to Lexi's team page and set up an account to either walk with the team or simply just donate HERE at the donation page. 

Okay now on to Lexi's story. 

When Lexi was 5 months old she had her first seizure.  Incredibly scary for both Becky and Charlie her parents, as well as their whole family.  Since then Lexi struggled daily with seizures, and taking numerous medications to control the seizures.  After months of "not responding well" to medication, her Neurologist recommended Becky and Charlie begin testing Lexi to see if she was possibly a good candidate for epilepsy surgery.  With medication 3 times a day and all kinds of testing, procedures,  trips to the ER & hospital stays along the way, Lexi had been so brave!  And then after 7 long months it was determined that Lexi qualified for surgery to remove the section of the brain causing seizures. They met with the neurosurgeon last June and Lexi had surgery in August. This was not an easy decision for Becky and Charlie, and with intense prayer and support from friends and family they moved forward.  They first put grids on the brain to monitor activity and to map brain functions....after they gathered enough data, they went through with the surgery.  There was a risk of damage to the part of her brain that controls her motor skills on her left side. 

Lexi did amazing in her surgery.  They removed her right frontal lobe.  Lexi unfortunately had a seizure a couple days after surgery.  Becky and Charlie new this was a possibility and are confident they made the right choice for Lexi.  We all are!  Lexi has improved so much, she's starting to walk and talk...does sign language even.  She lights up the lives of so many people.  Recently a friend of the family bought Lexi and Ipad to help with her therapy and it will be a great tool for her development.  (I bet Steve Jobs didn't think his Ipad would actually change lives in that way when he developed the product!)  Lexi will continue to improve and we are all trusting that God has incredible plans for this beautiful girl, he's already used her and her parents to minister to so many people on the lessons of faith, being great parents, and love.  They are truly an example.  You can read more of Lexi's story HERE at caringbridge.org - Becky journals here to share with us all the ups and downs of Lexi's ongoing story.

This photo was taken at last years walk.

I told Becky I would post about their fundraising for the November walk because I want to help anyway I can, so until the walk once a week I will post a reminder for the donation page.  If your interested please help support this cause HERE !  And, it's not just Lexi...in the United States, one in one-hundred, or one percent of individuals are diagnosed with epilepsy; approximately 65,000 of those individuals live in Arizona. And, one in ten individuals will have a seizure in his or her lifetime.  One-third of all people with epilepsy will continue to have seizures despite treatment.  Chances are we all know someone who suffers from this disease.  So let's show them our support.  If you can't donate or walk with them, PRAY....PRAY that God creates healing in their bodies, and provides for their families. 

This is Lexi with her older sister Myah, and brother Greg.

Becky & Charlie

Thanks everyone!