Jacob's Journey

On February 11, 2011, after a healthy and full-term pregnancy, God blessed us with my precious nephew, Jacob Brian Magdaleno.  Within hours, Jacob began to have seizures. At just three days old, after numerous tests and evaluations, doctors informed my sister and her husband that their seemingly healthy baby boy had suffered a major stroke sometime around his birth.  Jacob's prognosis was greatly unknown, as he suffered significant brain damage.  Jacob has had extensive physical, occupational, speech and behavioral therapy for most of his life.  Jacob continues to work so hard to accomplish the everyday things we take for granted.  He suffers from mild cerebral palsy, a speech delay, weakness on the right side of his body, sensory processing disorder, ADHD, learning challenges, and the worst of all his struggles - epilepsy.  Jacob has refractory epilepsy which means his seizures are unable to be controlled by medication.  This is very dangerous, as it slows his development and could result in SUDEP (Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy).  

In an effort to control his seizures, Jacob will undergo a hemispherectomy on December 16th at UCLA.  This is a rare and radical surgery which will result in a portion of Jacob's left brain being removed and the remainder of the left brain will be completely disconnected from the right side.  All of his seizures are coming from the left hemisphere of his brain which was damaged by the stroke he suffered as an infant.  This will leave Jacob with only the right side of his brain.  As you can imagine, the surgery will result in additional life long challenges for Jacob, but his wonderful parents along with his highly experienced medical team believe this will give him the best opportunity to develop into the best Jacob he can be.  Jacob will require a lengthy hospital stay and extensive therapy for some time following surgery.  My sister and her husband will inevitably be out of work for some time, and their family, including Jacob's two beautiful sisters, will be relocated to LA for at least 6 weeks.  Fortunately, Jacob has an amazing family who will do all that they can to help during this difficult time.  Thank you to everyone who is willing to generously help our family and give Jacob every opportunity he deserves.  And thank you for your continued thoughts, prayers, and support.