Journey For Jess

Jess Marie Beecher

Jess Marie was born on January 7, 2004 weighing 8 lbs, 7 oz, almost 3 weeks early.  Her first months of life were filled with lots of sleeping and eating and she was a pretty simple baby to take care of.  At about 3 months of age, unbeknownst to us, Jess had her first small seizures.  On September 1st, 2004, at about 8 months of age, Jess had a 17 minute tonic clonic seizure that prompted her first ride in an ambulance and visit to the ER.  Thought to be a simple childhood seizure, she was discharged home with an appointment to have an EEG done in a week.  Two weeks later, she had her second tonic clonic seizure, the same day her EEG report reached her pediatrician's office. The report indicated that Jess' brain did in fact have a seizure pattern.   She was started on a seizure med, spent the night in the hospital and was discharged to home.  November 5th, 2004 Jess had an uncontrolled tonic clonic seizure that led to the administration of multiple medications, spinal tap, and eventually a referal to a pediatric epileptologist and her first Life Flight airplane transfer.

 Over the next months and years of Jess' young life, she experienced countless head drop seizures and a few more tonic clonic seizures, including a six hour  tonic clonic  that left her dependent upon a ventilator to breathe,  for two days.  She tried over a dozen ant-seizure meds, a special epilepsy diet, had two brain surgeries resulting in a complete corpus callosotomy, and through all of these interventions, she continued to have daily seizures.  All without a known cause,  as her brain structure was normal and there were no signs of infection or inflammation. 

On June 15, 2007 we awoke at 5AM to find that Jess had been seizing in her sleep (a time that she usually was seizure free) for hours.  Over the next two days we would learn that Jess' brain was deprived of adequate oxygen for an extensive period of time, and was dying.  Jess Marie was pronounced dead on June 18th at 9:39PM.  Her heart and kidneys were donated to a baby and a grandma in need, and our angel girl went to sit in the lap of Jesus and be our guardian angel forever.

Jess' life was filled with so much more than seizures.  She taught us the importance of cherishing the moments we have with those we love.  She taught us how important hugs and moochies and cuddling are, and the power of a smile and a laugh. She was the most perfect gift we could have received for those three and a half years, and we will never forget, and never be the same because of her love and her life.  

Jess Marie Beecher