Where are the flying cars?

Do you know what year it is? 2012. Two thousand freaking twelve! I was promised flying cars. There should be flying cars by now. I've been saying it (to Chris' amusement) for years. 

The movie "Back to the Future" has hover boards and flying cars in the year 2015. Or how about the movies "A Space Odyssey 2001" or "A Space Odyssey 2010". Come on! We are living in the future right now.

I struggle with most technology. Today I was standing in our driveway on Chris' phone (No AT&T signal inside the house, how convenient) while I was calling Verizon customer support with an iPhone issue. Can you hear me now?

Then I came inside and tried to print a document to my HP Deskjet 3930. It jammed up of course and I had to sh@t can the whole operation (those who were lucky to know Grant Price will appreciate that line.)

I do love my iPhone. If I can't find it within my purse in under 30 seconds, I start to sweat. Literally. It's like a child to me. It connects me to my work e-mail, Facebook, Internet searches are a stroke away. (Today's Google searches included "How much to feed a goldfish" and "What to do if your goldfish is swimming around like crazy". I swear that fish is trying to get my attention.)

But truly, my iPhone helped save Jude's life. When he was 15 months old, I was home alone one morning. Chris was on a work trip. Like a typical morning, I had gotten up around 6:30 or 7:00 am with Lucy and Jude. They were both snuggling in bed with me. The cartoons were on. I was checking my iPhone. 

Then suddenly Jude jerked. He arms when out stiff and his head tipped to the side. It lasted a few seconds. Then it happened again. I knew something wasn't right (thanks to my incredible mother's instinct I'm sure - insert sarcasm here). I picked him up and put him on the bathroom floor. And I started recording it. 

His arm waving is not a seizure. But at about :10 & :25 and 1:00 he has small seizures. Lucy is about 3 or 4 years old. You can hear her so innocently asking Jude to say cheese. It about breaks my heart. I waited until Chris got back from his trip to tell him that I thought Jude had a seizure. He said no way.  So we starting recording every one. And we showed doctors and anyone who would look at them. Was it something wrong with his eyes? We started calling it his "tippy head." No one called them seizures. Not even his doctors. 

Fast forward three months. We have been seen by all kinds of eye doctors and neurologists. Jude was admitted to the Children's Hospital for an inpatient EEG. We wait for days in a tiny room (cell) for him to have a seizure so they could record his brain. Chris slept in the bathroom. The three of us waited. And waited. 

Finally, they ordered an MRI. We unhooked Jude from the EEG. We took him for his first stroller ride of freedom. And you guessed it. He had a major seizure right outside the room. He was not hooked up to any equipment. We got nothing. This video is about 5 minutes later and he's still having short seizures. It's funny to see the "old me" in this video. I had no idea that my life was about to completely change. 

Right after this video was taken, I cried in the bathroom alone. It was first and only time I've really cried about Jude's health. I was so sad, mad and disappointed at the whole world. Luckily, Jude has been seizure free for almost two years. He is on a miraculous drug called Keppra. 

iPhones are going to help families and the medical world, especially for those families with epilepsy. We take videos of any unusual behavior, send them real-time to his specialists and they call us with opinions on what to do, what medicine to change, etc. 

In hind sight, it's probably better than flying cars. At least for this family.

So I will end with a cinquain poem (click here to write your own):

iPhone 
Tiny, fragile 
Always close by 
Like a third child 
Life-saver