The Journey to the Truth
— Meagan Cheney

Our lives are changing, and this time, it isn’t due to the effects of Dravet syndrome. I have mostly been a stay-at-home mom for the last 11 years. I have a degree in elementary education, but when we had…

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. An entire day dedicated to food? That’s right up my alley. Usually, we stay home in Colorado to cook and relax as a nuclear family, and our day is sprinkled…

After 20 months, the kids are returning to school. One of them, anyway. Originally, we were going to wait until all three kids had been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 before we allowed…

I’m the only person on my block who has their Christmas tree up, and I have zero shame about that. Usually, it goes up on Nov. 1, but this year, I managed to wait until the 4th to get…

Twenty months. That’s how long it’s been since the COVID-19 pandemic hit the U.S. and I withdrew my kids from school. I was terrified for all three of them, but especially my daughter Austen, 6, who has Dravet syndrome.

Austen, my 6-year-old daughter with Dravet syndrome, went to the neurologist at the end of September. It was the first time we’ve seen her in the office since the COVID-19 pandemic started. The appointment went smoothly, and Austen…

Earlier this summer, my husband and I wrestled with the decision about whether to continue home schooling our kids for another year or send them back to regular school. It was a hard decision, but ultimately, we decided…

“Mom, how is rain made?” It was a simple question posed by the sweet, 3-year-old voice coming from the back seat of the car. This was a decade ago, and the question came from my oldest daughter, Addisen, who…

My daughter Austen’s first seizure was one of the worst nights of my life. She is 6 years old now, and has been diagnosed with Dravet syndrome for five. My heart still pounds and my hands become sweaty…

Over the last year, we have pretty much kept our family in a constant state of quarantine, fearing what would happen if Austen, our 6-year-old with Dravet syndrome, caught the coronavirus. When something as small as the adenovirus…

The previous weekend, I did something I haven’t done since March of last year: I woke up early, got all of the kids into the car, and headed to church. Truthfully, I had a small panic attack the previous…

“Have you tried the ketogenic diet?” I’ve been asked this question more times than I can count. When people learn that we tried cannabis therapy with Austen, my 6-year-old with Dravet syndrome, before medications like Onfi (clobazam) and…