Ok, it's official. Iliana is completely off the Phenobarb(a seizure med). Yeah!!!!!! Please allow me a moment to share with you about her day.
The last time she was given a dose of this medicine was Friday night. Today, she began seizing. She seized more times than she ever has when being weaned off of this medication. I knew this was going to happen so I wasn't surprised. We decided that we were not going to allow it to keep us from going to church. She had a couple of seizures during our time at church and continued to have them consistently throughout the afternoon. I had to call the Neurologist to have some additional, temporary, medicine prescribed to help her through this time. I did not want to, but I had to. My point in being so detailed is that I wanted to say that Dwight and I felt we were doing what God wanted us to do. We have felt led to take her off this medicine completely and the Lord turned the hearts and desire of the Neurologists to align with ours, or really His will.
Reece and Marisa attend a bible study with my mom every week and they shared with me that the lesson this week was how "three men were put in a fire and then there were four and God protected them". For whatever reason I reminded them that the faith of the men was so strong that their primary concern was obeying God, not whether God would save them. Well, I got a dose of my own lesson. This afternoon, those words came back to me. I am powerless when it comes to Iliana having seizures. Anytime she takes a step backwards, it hurts. For me, it feels like I'm being thrown to the fire. Worry takes over. However, today we prayed that God would have His way. Whether He decides to allow her to have a bad day or not, she is His and He can do as He wills. The seizures didn't go away until late in the afternoon, but God was with us every step. I know this because Iliana had at least 10-12 seizures today. Normally she would be tired and sleep all day when she has about 4-5. Today is different, she is alert, responsive, talkative, completely opposite of her normal self on a day like this. She had the energy to take a couple of bites of some cheese bread and chew it correctly. I can even hear her talking and being playful in her room now, and it's 9pm. God continues to be faithful to us and always will be. It's His nature. His word confirms it and to do the opposite, well He wouldn't be God.

God doesn't always keep us from the fire, but He promises to be faithful.

-Therefore know that the Lord your God, He is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and mercy for a thousand generations with those who love Him and keep His commandments.

Deutoronomy 7:9

Iliana ate a hamburger for the first time on Friday. She did just eat the hamburger patty, but she would take bites and then chew and swallow. She still has room for improvement with chewing, but she is doing great! Dwight also found her sitting up in her crib one morning. She has never done this before. She will usually just lay there until someone comes to get her. She is making small strides and we praise God for them. We have also taken away one of her medications in the morning, in two weeks we will attempt to take her off the evening dose. If she does well, she can continue on without that particular medicine. She is also reaching up for us when we call for her. We ask her for her "manos", which is Spanish for hands, and she will lift them up for us most of the time. I hope to update you with more on her progress soon.