Paws for Sydney

Hello, I want to introduce my 11 year old daughter Sydney.   Sydney is a super smart and funny 6th grader.   She loves anime, video games, swimming, family and her 2 cats.     Sydney’s journey has not always been easy but you would never know looking at her that she has a form of epilepsy.   Sydney has always had some issues with muscle tone and balance when growing up but we did not think much of it.  She then was diagnosed with ADHD at 9 years old.  

Fast forward to Jan 31st 2020 Sydney had her first seizure at home.   We did not know what was going on and got to Children’s Hospital in Washington DC right away and saw an amazing pediatric neurologist Dr. Difazio.   After many tests and MRI’s Sydney was diagnosed with frontal cortical dysplasia (FCD) which is a form of epilepsy.  It is a congenital abnormality where there is an abnormal organization of the layers of the brain and bizarre appearing neurons.  FCD can be drug resistant and in some children require brain surgery for management of seizures.   All of Sydney’s prior diagnoses were because of the dysplasia that we did not know about at the time.   Sydney is also seeing a geneticist at this time because her type of FCD may be genetic and we are trying to learn more about how this may affect her future.    

Sydney luckily just celebrated one year seizure free on Jan 31st 2021 and is stable on her anticonvulsants.   Sydney is very excited about getting a seizure dog to help with companionship, her muscle issues/ balance, and protecting her with notifying her loved ones before she has a seizure even if it is in her sleep.  

 We are in the process of raising $17,000 for Sydney’s seizure dog.   

Thank you for thinking of Sydney and our family and donating towards this amazing opportunity for her.    

How can YOU help Sydney?

You can donate on this fundraising page however if you would like to write a check see below.

Donations in support of Sydney should be made directly to 4 Paws for Ability – be sure to write Sydney’s name on the memo line.  Mail checks to:

4 Paws for Ability
253 Dayton Ave.
 Xenia, Ohio, 45385.

If you wish to make an online donation, the website is www.4pawsforability.org/donate-now .  Include Sydney’s name in the memo line so that the amount is credited to her account!