Help Kolby get a seizure alert dog

My friends Tracy and Erik Joosten asked if they could set up a GoFundMe account for my son to get a seizure alert dog. I was humbled and floored and surprised. Tracy said all I had to do was type something up and she would take care of the rest. So, here it is:

 

In the spring of 2020, what was first thought to be a “fainting spell” slowly progressed into Partial Complex Seizures and has now unfortunately progressed even further to Grand Mal Seizures.

All of Kolby’s test results have come back normal. His in-office EEG was normal, and they found no lesions or tumors in his MRI. He has been diagnosed with Epilepsy and as of now, there is no known cause to his seizures. Kolby has now had a total of 107 seizures since his diagnosis. With each seizure, his anti-seizure medication is increased and/or changed, and he continues to have what are called “breakthrough” seizures.

His most recent seizure was on October 10th, 2024. Kolby’s neurologist suggested a camera in his room to alert us of a seizure if he has one. Unfortunately, the camera picks up his seizure, but it fails to alert us. If we had a seizure dog, we would be alerted of the seizure right away and could avoid falls, and he would not be alone the whole time.

After looking into the prices of a seizure dog, we are unable to afford one with our income. Due to one of our children being allergic to dogs, we would need a hypoallergenic dog which can range from $15,000.00 - $30,000.00 and some are even closer to $50,000.00.

 

**HOWEVER**

Our goals for Kolby have now changed. After much consideration and with talking to his entire team of doctors, we have decided to go down the surgical route. With the end goal being, Kolby becoming seizure free!! If the surgery is a success, this will be a game changer, no, A LIFE CHANGER for Kolby!

Kolby will be admitted into the hospital on November 12th for brain surgery and he and his mom will remain in the hospital for 3 weeks. This will be the 4th time the family has had to miss wages due to long hospital stays.

Please help Ashley and Jim meet their goal of $30,000 to help offset what the insurance doesn't cover and to continue to get Kolby a seizure alert dog, should the need still be there.

Your generosity is humbly appreciated. - Tracy and Erik Joosten.