Ay, caramba! It’s already the evening of Labor Day and only now am I finally able to update Vic’s blog. It sure has been a busy summer; filled with fun and peaceful moments with friends, interesting obstacles for Victor (and us), and back to the basement for Gary.My last update was just before the 4th of July, which was fun,
indeed! The family took in some local patriotic tunes down at the Locks and then we hosted a small BBQ/cocktail hour with friends and neighbors. We even stayed up late with all the kids, taking in the Lake Union fireworks (seen from our bedroom window). Following the 4th, came a return trip to Whidbey Island for Victor and I, where we spent the weekend with our dear friends, taking in a local street fair and walk through the woods while Gary moved the gas line. Don’t worry…all is well, Gary did a great job and even had the gas company inspect his work (for free!).The month of July remained busy with our typical Vic appointments, school, work, and Mom & Dad time (yoga for Mom and swimming for Dad). Thankfully, though, we were able to round out July with a special visit from friends we hadn’t seen in awhile
and walked to our local Ballard Seafood Fest.August started out on a fun note; literally, as
we took in the last of our Summer Zoo Concerts on a perfect Seattle evening listening to Bela Fleck & the Flecktones. We also made time for ourselves by taking a weekend to enjoy some things outside of Seattle. We took Vic to the very small Cougar Mtn. Zoo and then to Snoqualmie Falls. Vic was a bit lethargic that day but we had a great time, leaving the city! The next day, after waiting in a very long ferry line out of Edmonds, we went to Kingston and meandered around Port Gamble; an old mill town with very quaint buildings and hardly any foot traffic (a bit Steven King-ish). We then ventured down to Bremerton and walked around the coolest ferry landing in WA while waiting to board (who knew!). The ride toward the Seattle skyline was absolutely gorgeous! 
During many of our weekends, however, Gary worked diligently in the basement while I entertained Vic. Out of one weekend, we even got a new staircase leading to the basement from the front hall; an exciting accomplishment! In spite of the loud sounds, Vic
was actually able to nap and had to be woken up! This past Labor Day weekend turned out quite nice, despite not having made any plans. It was basically a weekend at the park(s. Gary toiled again in the basement while Vic and I spent the day at Myrtle Edwards Park. Sunday, the family headed to Greenlake, wher
e I finally had a chance to rollerblade and Gary walked Vic in our new $10 bargain jogger. We later walked around searching for blackberries when I realized, that’s exactly how we’d spend our Labor Day. Today, we headed to Seward Park where our mission was to fill our bucket with blackberries and we came pretty close. For dinner, we ate at Uwajimaya and I slurped down a bubble tea for dessert (ahh). Not a bad weekend to begin our September, considering all that we’ve gone through with regards to Vic. 
Sometime in mid-July we got results from a food allergy test we did for Vic. The results are quite daunting, as just about 80% of his Keto Diet needs are dependent upon dairy and dairy is at the top of his reactive foods. Coming in at #1 is soy! In all, Vic has about 16 foods that negatively impact him in some way but of course, since he’s non-verbal we don’t know how those foods affect him. For one, we decided to cut out the dairy and within a week we noticed a big difference! Here’s where I get graphic…Vic finally has solid stools. Vic seems more comfortable and is certainly less gassy! However, it has not been easy adjusting his diet
w/o the dairy, as we’ve ha
d to replace ALL of the dairy (which is high in fat, fat is the crux of his Keto Diet) with oil. It has taken us about a month playing with various oils and he still had a difficult time digesting the ¾ cup of olive oil, he ingests per day. The amount of oil makes for a very urpy Victor and slows us down a lot, as we can’t simply jump in the car and go following any meal.Aside from the diet, we discovered the importance of one of Vic’s meds (lamictal). One week ag
o Vic stopped taking Phenobarbital (yippee). From pulling the PB away, we also pulled back on the lamictal and noticed a horrible outcome from the slight wean. The good thing is that when we put him back up on the lamictal, his seizures weren’t as strong or as frequent. We’ve also recently altered the time of day we give his meds and today noticed him to have only 1 brief strong seizure and a few mild quick ones. We’re keeping our fingers and toes crossed!Through all of this, Vic had a growth spurt and is about 34” long, 26.5#’s and is now working on the 2nd of his last 4 molars. This teething business is clearly impacting him and driving us nuts. We have felt each of those teeth come in! At this point, I need to call it a day!
Look for my next update, following the start of school and our trip to Reno/Tahoe to visit my family.
Next Update: sometime early October
