A Dream for Sarah

This site is dedicated to Sarah, a brave little girl with intractable epilepsy. Sarah has been battling a severe seizure disorder since she was six months old. Despite the hardships in her life, Sarah is a sweet, loving, happy child who always has a hug to share. Click here to read Sarah’s Story.

Sarah suffers from a rare seizure disorder called Dravet Syndrome, or Severe Myoclonic Epilepsy of Infancy. There is no cure for Dravet Syndrome and Sarah will never out-grow her seizures. Although many people experience seizures at some point in their life, very little is known about the cause of epilepsy and many misconceptions exist about seizure disorders. Click here to learn more about seizures and Dravet Syndrome.

Sarah in her cooling vest

Dravet Syndrome does not respond well to medications and Sarah is on the KETOGENIC DIET to help control her seizures. The ketogenic diet is a medically prescribed diet that creates a fasting-like state in the body. Fasting has been known to suppress seizures since biblical times. Since starting this diet, along with two European seizure medications, Sarah has gone from having close to 100 seizures every day to only 10-20 seizures per month. Click here to learn more about the Ketogenic Diet.

Sarah's family have been working with 4 Paws for Ability to obtain a SEIZURE RESPONSE DOG. Children with Dravet syndrome frequently have seizures in their sleep and may die from Sudden Unexplained Death of Epilepsy (SUDEP). Sarah's dog will be trained to alert Sarah's parents when she is having a seizure at night, potentially saving her life. A certified service dog can also help Sarah walk without falling and will be a companion during the scary times all children with a chronic illness face. The trainers at 4 Paws have an excellent success rate with their seizure response dogs. However, much of seizure alerting can not be trained and must come from the dog. Sarah was initially paired with a dog named Wonder who was never able to alert to her seizures. Wonder has gone on to be a mobility assistance dog for a little girl in a wheelchair. A new dog is currently being trained for Sarah and we hope to go meet him in the summer of 2010.