Through the Spring, Rachel kept having seizures, and her neurologist kept increasing the dosage. In late April she went to 2 pills / day. The first week of May it was up to 3. Even at that dosage, she had a few seizures during her class trip to Catalina Island.

The day after returning from Catalina, she went to 4 pills / day. She’d come a long way in a short time, from when she balked at taking one a day. But at this dosage, she finally got some relief.

It didn’t always feel like relief, however, Rachel’s mood was noticeably changed. She has always been a bright, happy girl with the sunniest of dispositions. She has filled our lives with laughter and joy. But by the end of 7th grade her outlook was decidedly negative. It wasn’t always easy to be around, but of course we understood that she had plenty of reasons to be down.

(Hint: that last paragraph was the type of fore-shadowing you can only do when you’re writing fiction or retro-blogging. Spoiler: it turns out Rachel really is bright and sunny!)