Hi, Everybody I'm back!

  So, its been almost a year since you've heard from me. Thank-you all so much for the      prayers and support that helped send me to Vancouver last summer for Hyperbaric Oxygen     Treatments!
  Since having the treatments my seizure activity has been cut to less then half !                           Before having the treatments a good day for me was to have around 16 seizures, and on bad days I often had 26. NOW, I often have a day with less then 3, and on bad days I still usually have less then 10.
  Also, You used to be able to drop something right beside my bed while I slept and I 
  wouldn't even stir. Now, my senses are so much sharper. After about 10 treatments, I woke up from having my light turned on.    
  These days I am slowly learning to hold my head on my own and can occasionally sit with a     roll under my arms. I am very aware of my surroundings, and when you talk to me, I will       show you in different ways that I hear you and that I understand you are talking to me.  Those that talk to me, know that I try to join in the conversation!                                                     My nights have also become so much better! I used to wake mom or dad up a lot.               The reason for that is because of my Tracheostomy tube, I have to be suctioned almost every    time I cough otherwise I could suffocate, so that meant I used to wake them up anywhere     from 5 to 15 times. And some times my coughing episodes could last 5 minutes alone.           Because of lack of sleep my seizures were often worse after a night like that. Since the treatments, my seizures are so much better and my lungs are also stronger and healthier. I have recently  stopped having to require Melatonin to sleep at night. I am relaxed enough without it, and often require suctioning less then 3 times a night. I have even had a few solid nights of sleep. Hurray!!!  Thank's to the treatments, my parents are also able to get some very much needed rest!                                                                                                                              I hope to be able to have treatments again in the near future to keep getting stronger and       continue to advance. 
 My family and I would like to thank you all again for all the prayers, support and donations    that made it possible for me to have made the improvements I have made up to this point!    It would not have been possible without your help!                                                                            Thank you for reading my blog! We hope to begin updating regularly and would love for    you to continue to follow my journey!

Sophia's Story

Hi, my name is Sophia. I was born on August 29, 2012 to Jake & Loreen Klassen. My parents and my big brother Fernando were so happy when I was born. Mommy and Daddy were thrilled to show me off to our family and friends. They often said they were thankful God had blessed them with a healthy little girl. 

But I wasn't that healthy. I couldn't ever seem to get my breathing right.  Mommy noticed it too and about 2 weeks after I was born and took me to the Emergency Room. The doctors thought I just needed to grow out of it and that I needed to gain some weight and grow a bit more. So home we went.  But I still couldn't breathe right. We went to the ER several times but each time were sent back home with the same answers. Mommy and Daddy knew I was struggling to breathe. They tried to be patient and wait for me to "grow out of it" and gain some weight, but in my first 2 months of life I only gained 1 lb,8oz. 

Around this time my Mommy was having some health problems too.  On November 2 she was admitted to the hospital because of a gallbladder attack. My Mommy knew I would stop breathing at times and insisted that I stay with her in the hospital so that she could keep an eye on me. One of the nurses that was helping Mommy saw me and said, "There is something wrong with Sophia". Daddy let the nurse take me to the ER again and they took an x-ray of my lungs.  The doctor said everything was fine and that I would grow out of my breathing problems. Thankfully the nurse still felt there was something wrong with me and in the morning took me with her to get a Pertussis test done.  She told Mommy I would be back in 20 minutes but it was a long time before I got to see my Mommy again. An hour and half later the nurse and doctor were getting me ready to go to the Children's Hospital in Winnipeg. They now knew that I was very sick. My one lung was now starting to collapse and my breathing rate was that of a adult and causing my blood to be Acetic. I ended up with all sorts of tubes in me. That was not fun. But the oxygen they put me on helped. 

After having to do lots more tests the doctors finally had some answers. I was diagnosed with having multiple seizures, developmental delay, respiratory failure type II, a brain scar and being neurodegenerative. The doctors told us that I would never grow up as a healthy little girl. My brain will not grow and mature like others. Instead my brain will go backwards. 

When I was 3 and half months I had to get a tracheotomy tube put in my throat. I will never get to taste and eat food like a regular person. But this trach has helped me to grow and that is a good thing! The bad thing about the trach is it meant I had to stay at the Children's Hospital for the next 6 months. Daddy, Mommy and my big brother Fernando stayed with me a lot, but it is not the same as being at home. Finally when I was nine months old we got to go home! We were all thrilled. 

Life has not been easy.  I have had Pneumonia many times, been hospitalized several times and have to go to lots of doctor appointments. But I know that through it all my family loves me!

Sophia's Future

Sophia is currently on the maximum dosage allowed for her seizures. But the drugs are proving to no longer be effective in keeping the seizures in check. Instead they are increasing and causing further damage and a poor quality of life.

Hyperbaric Oxygen Treatment Therapy may provide Sophia with fewer seizures and a better quality of life. Oxygen treatments would allow Sophia to absorb Oxygen at a rate that is 3 times higher than normal and perhaps relieve her of some of her pain.

An opening for the treatment of children like Sophia is available at the Richmond Hyperbaric Health Center in Richmond, B.C. this summer. It is the desire of the family to take Sophia for Hyperbaric Oxygen treatments as soon as possible.