ALAMOSA– Local gym Anytime Fitness of Alamosa will be holding its annual Turkey Trot this Thanksgiving Day, November 22 at 7 a.m., as a fundraiser to support the Luke Yoder family as they navigate the journey of their son’s seizures. All proceeds will go toward supporting Kaden’s medical expenses.

If you would like to participate in the run on Thanksgiving Day, you can register in advance at https://legacy.imathlete.com/events/slvturkeytrot, or the day of the event for $25 at the gym. Registration will earn participants a t-shirt, and all remaining proceeds will go toward Kaden Yoder’s medical expenses.

If you would like to sponsor the event or provide a donation without participating, you can contact Eddie Valdez with Anytime Fitness at 719-580-4633. 

A Day Like Any Other

Kaden Yoder, son of Luke and Katie Yoder of Alamosa, is full of life. He is a bundle of energy, yet to meet someone who is not his best friend. His love of life has helped him and his family begin to live into their new reality.

A recent morning in February started like any other, with Kaden gleefully rushing to fill his dog Kaia’s food bowl. When he did not return, Katie went to check on him. Katie found him on the floor having his first seizure. This began an ongoing fight for Kaden’s family to find out how to keep Kaden safe.

“Our world changed in an instant,” Luke said. “Kaden has always been a healthy bowling-ball of a kid. He seemed indestructible. That has made this even more difficult. There’s nothing more scary than seeing your kiddo completely helpless, and knowing there is nothing you can do for him in that moment.”

Diagnosis

In the next number of months, Kaden was diagnosed with Polymicrogyria, or PMG, which is a brain malformation caused by a virus in utero. Kaden’s primary symptom from this condition has been seizures. In addition to PMG, Kaden has been diagnosed with drug-resistant epilepsy. This means he has failed multiple antiepileptic drugs.

Kaden’s family has been working closely with neurologists at Children’s Hospital in Denver to find the best course of treatment. This has proven to be quite challenging. Kaden’s seizures gradually became more prevalent and began to take on different forms.

Initially presenting as general tonic-clonic seizures, formerly known as grand mal, Kaden also began to have myoclonic and absence seizures. What initially presented as one seizure every week or so, turned into up to 20 seizures a day, frequently requiring heavy doses of rescue medications to prevent long-term damage.

Ultimately, when seizures become life-threatening, Kaden has required flights-for-life to Denver to receive urgent care at Children’s Hospital.

Local Support

Local resources have proven to be critical for Kaden’s care. Luke notes that, “Without San Luis Valley Health, we would have had to find a way to move to Denver. We feel so fortunate to have a hospital literally blocks away. This has helped keep Kaden as safe as possible and made it possible for us to stay in Alamosa surrounded by our community.”

Katie added, “Friends and family have responded in so many ways to help us carry the load when we simply couldn’t carry it on our own anymore. We have spent so much time traveling back and forth to Denver for scheduled appointments and for emergency room visits. Our workplaces have supported us, our friends have covered for us, and people have been praying for us. We couldn’t do this without them.”

Moving Forward

Each time Kaden has experienced a setback, he and his family have vowed to continue to keep going. Kaden’s stubbornness has been a true asset to this process of trial and error as his neurologists keep working to find an answer. His most recent treatment includes a very strict ketogenic diet under the supervision of dieticians at Children’s Hospital.

His parents are cautiously optimistic that this new treatment will provide some measure of protection for Kaden.

Kaden’s family realizes this will be a life-long journey and are hoping their experience can help provide knowledge and understanding for others.

Luke and Katie are working with the Epilepsy Foundation of Colorado to try to bring resources to the San Luis Valley to educate schools and child care providers about how they can work with kids with seizure disorders to allow them to have experiences that are as “normal” as possible.

Anyone interested in finding out more about epilepsy or what you can do to provide support to someone experiencing a seizure can visit the Epilepsy Foundation of Colorado at www.epilepsycolorado.org.