Updates
The good days and the hard ones, posted on our Facebook page.
August 1, 2026
For years we've carried Brinlee's journey mostly on our own. We're starting to share it, first so the people who love her can understand what our days really look like, and so anyone facing something similar knows they're not alone. Thank you for being here. We'll post updates on Brinlee, the good days and the hard ones, on our Facebook page.
September 22, 2026
Just an honest update on Brinlee, and it is a hard one. Things have not been going well. The daytime seizures have been awful lately. They come during her waking hours, when she is up and moving, which makes falls a real worry. So we bought a protective headband to help keep her safe when they hit. We have also gone back to her old diet, hoping the change gives her body something steadier to hold onto. We do not have answers yet, just a lot of trying. Thank you for walking through the hard days with us, not only the good ones.
View on Facebook →September 16, 2026
Today the geneticist called with Brinlee's results: normal. For most families that word would be pure relief. For us it means another door that looked like it might hold answers has quietly closed. We're not giving up. We've decided to join the Undiagnosed Diseases Network, and we'll keep re-running her genetics every two years. Maybe something turns up there. This time we're holding our hopes gently. As for how Brinlee is doing, our little stretch of "things going better" seems to have worn off. She's back to seizures during the day, nearly every day, and we saw a cluster this evening. The hardest part is that the nighttime seizures never fully stopped. So now we're weighing what comes next: whether to go back to very low carb, maybe not full keto, or whether her newest medication has started to hurt more than it helps. These are the decisions that weigh on us most, because we're the ones who have to make them, and all we want is to help our sweet girl. We'll end on good news. Darla is thriving. She's got her puppy energy back and we are all falling for her. Today she met a chicken up close for the first time, and neither of them was quite sure what to make of the other. (She'd also just had a bath, which explains the very wet, very happy face.) Thank you for walking this road with us, the good days and the hard ones.
View on Facebook →September 7, 2026
Look who is back home. Darla is doing well, eating, drinking, playing, and napping. It turns out our super chill puppy was just a sick puppy, so we may get to meet her crazy puppy side after all.
View on Facebook →