The Detour

Dylan was released from the hospital Tuesday evening, July 5th.

So, what’s next for the Six Flags Road Trip? It’s time to rip off the band-aid. The trip is postponed.

We’re devastated. It sucks. It hurts - BADLY. There were a LOT of tears, heck, there still are.

But it’s the best thing to do for Dylan. His health is our #1 priority.

We hashed out all sorts of scenarios, and, in the end, there are simply to many variables and seizure triggers on the road trip, in its original fashion. Furthermore, Dylan is now on two brand new prescriptions, one of which is taken twice daily and makes him sleepy. Today was a bit of trial run, through traveling about five hours, to see how he did. He’s wiped.

The driving, the numerous hotels, stops, heat - it would simply be to much, right now.

Make no mistake, we’re already thinking about what it will look like, in the future, once we’ve stabilized Dylan and are more confident, as his parents, in this new seizure world!

BUT…we have a plan! We’re taking a detour!

Where on earth could we possibly be going?? What IS our red head up for in the midst of his diagnosis?

CAMP ATTITUDE in Foster, Oregon

What’s Camp Attitude? Well, it’s Dylan’s OTHER happy place when he’s not on a roller coaster!

In a nutshell, Camp Attitude is a camp designed to serve the family living with special needs - and not just the individual with special needs, the the whole family! Our family attended for the 1st time in 2010 and it’s truly a slice of heaven on earth.

We’ve attended as a Camper Family numerous times and also served as a Servant Family.

Dylan’s brothers, Jeremy (17) and Greg (15), have served as Buddies and are CURRENTLY there serving on the CORE Team. They served on CORE for five weeks in the summer of 2021 and are serving for seven weeks for the summer of 2022.

We’ve been keeping his brothers up-to-date on Dylan’s situation. Camp unexpectedly shared they have a spot for our family for Camp Week #4, July 10th - 15th.

It’s hard to put into words what this camp does for the family living with special needs.

It’s a place of REST.

It’s a place of LOVE.

It’s a place of FUN.

It’s a place of SAFETY.

It’s a place of 100% ACCEPTANCE.

It’s a place of HEALING.

We’re TIRED.

We’re HURTING.

We’re OVERWHELMED with what has occurred and the unknown of what’s to come.

But Jesus. He has shown up over and over and over during this chaos. The God winks just keep coming.

Camp has a spot!

Dylan will be 10 days out from his COVID test when we arrive…and he continues to remain asymptomatic!

Everyone else remains negative and healthy. Keep praying!

COVID has taken SO much from us. We have no doubt you can relate to that. We refuse to let all that’s occurred to steal our JOY.

Is this detour as exciting as 13 Parks in 31 Days? Probably not.

Yet, as a Team Jesus family, we’ve learned that God takes the most sour lemons and makes the sweetest lemonade. We firmly believe he’s making us the most delicious pitcher right now!

We’ve decided to continue to document the trip. We make no predictions for what’s to to come but we’ve got a tentative plan.

The Facebook, Instagram and website were started as a fun way to share this crazy adventure. It’s certainly been a roller coaster…pun intended! Folks we’ve never met are following us. Maybe you’ll keep following, maybe not.

The world flipped upside down in 2020. It hasn’t let up. Maybe you can find a reason to smile through Dylan’s smile. His smile is contagious, even when life is tough!

www.campattitude.org