Marceau

Marceau is six years old and lives in Jupiter with his parents and two amazing sisters. Our little boy is very active and funny. He loves spending time at the beach swimming in the waves. He also enjoys playing basketball outside with the family. He loves the outdoors, but also spends a lot of time at the library and at home playing board games or watching a good movie on the couch. He will be starting first grade in the fall with the help of a full-time aid.

Three years ago, we noticed that Marceau’s upper body was jerking several times a day. We went to a neurologist who immediately diagnosed Marceau with epilepsy. The jerks were atonic seizures, epileptic spasms, and myoclonic jerks. This difficult diagnosis, it was the beginning of a long fight against this invisible but destructible illness. Marceau has tried lots of different medications and diets, suffering many side effects, yet the seizures still aren’t controlled. He has several seizures every day and night. Recently, the doctors diagnosed Marceau with Lennox- Gastaut syndrome. This is a form of refractive epilepsy, which means it won’t go away and there are currently no medications that can control the daily seizures.

A few months ago, Marceau was also diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and intellectual development delays caused by the seizures. He struggles with doing daily activities, socializing, and participating at school. He also has a hard time understanding others’ emotions or regulating his own.

Marceau has always loved dogs. We met the Topaz team during a family event for ASD kids and shared Marceau’s journey and struggles. We also watched a TV show on Netflix about a little girl with refractive epilepsy who got a seizure alert dog. This dog can sound the alarm when the child is having a seizure, get help or medications, protect her from injury, and comfort her after these scary episodes. The dog has changed her life and that’s what we want for our son.

Today we ask for your help to reach a goal that will change Marceau’s life: raising the money needed for a seizure alert dog. We want to support our little warrior’s resilience by getting him a special friend who will always be on his side. This will also be a good way to help him become more independent step-by-step, socialize with other kids, and even go to school with more confidence and the full-time help of an adult. We thank everyone for all the contributions, no matter how small. They all add up to a big change.