Monday, July 6, 2015

#WeekendUpdate - Epilepsy Netathon, My first CELEBRITY Interview, Birthday KickOff, #Freedom50K

Bear with me!  This may be one of my longest posts ever because I have so much to catch you up on!    I know I shared this graphic with you before but I had a last minute update and you will see that I have 12 generous sponsors for the #SDMomBirthdayGIVEAWAY!  Do you see what I added?


Make sure you come back to this spot tomorrow for a ProCompression GIVEAWAY and 40% off coupon code!

Okay, I have never made it a secret that Epilepsy and awareness and fundraising for epilepsy is very close to my heart so when the Epilepsy Foundation reached out to me to spread awareness for the Netathon that took place on June 27th, I jumped at the chance.  Even better, the chance to interview Dr. Antony Loebel from Sunovion Pharmaceuticals, the very generous sponsor of the Netathon.  Best yet, one of my very favorite actors, Greg Grunberg of all my past favorite shows like Heroes (its coming back!), Felicity, Lost and Alias (the best show ever!).  (Side note: Ben & Jen?  My heart is broken!)


You might even recognize Rick Harrison from Pawn Stars!  So I got to have a phone interview with Dr. Loebel.  He is the Chief Medical Officer and the head of Global Clinical Development at Sunovion.  They are very committed to getting the very best medicine to all patients with Epilepsy.  But my favorite thing about Dr. Loebel and his approach to this disease?  He told me that Sunovion encourages alternative forms of treatment for epilepsy.  It is about finding what works for you!  They are working on pediatric medication too!


I am a little giddy that I next got to interview Greg Grunberg.  Turns out, even though he is a big star, he cares about Epilepsy and every single person who has it!  In fact, about 5 minutes into the conversation, we were relating on a parents of kids with epilepsy level and not blogger / star.


He has three sons and his oldest has been living with epilepsy for almost 12 years.  He is passionate about this disease and has even created a website.  It is super cool with lots of stars.  But even though Greg is friends with all these famous people, he talked to me like I was important and understood the heartache that being a parent of a child with epilepsy can be.


One of the most important things I wanted to know was how his oldest having epilepsy effected the other two boys.  I know I struggle with that between D and S.  S has epilepsy and that automatically makes her the "needy" one.  And Greg had a great idea.  Something his parents did with him and his siblings.  "Special Nights."  He and his wife find it important to spend one on one time with each child and make it important to them.


So each kid gets a special night with each parent.  So they can feel special without having to compete for attention!  Please donate to the Epilepsy Foundation if you can.  There is so little awareness and funding for this disease.  You can donate here.

Okay, switching gears a little but still talking about heroes (see what i did there?), let's talk about Jamye deciding to embark on a solo 50K on July 3rd and call it the #Freedom50K.  She enlisted the help of myself and Jenn, planned the route and the details.


And we had to wear matching socks of course...


We are so proud of her.  We didn't have a medal for her but the pride that was in our hearts is priceless.  The memory of being able to complete this epic journey is priceless.  We love you Jamye girl and are so impressed with you!

All DONE!

So, I had to celebrate Jamye's finish with some sangria in my Starbucks cup!  Ha!


I am linking up with Tara from Running n Reading for Weekend Update!


HA!  So tell me about your weekend?  What is your favorite Greg TV show or movie?  Have you ever done a 50K?  Remember, come back here tomorrow for a ProCompression GIVEAWAY and all month for all my favorites!

As always, I wish you Happy Feet,
SD Mom

12 comments:

  1. Heroes is coming back?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? (Notice that is where my brain stopped.) What a cool event a) and b) what a fun fun weekend! (And your birthday giveaway is AMAZING!!!)

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    1. Haha! Yup! Looks like it will launch at Comic Con with all the details of the reboot! Greg is amazing!

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  2. Very cool about the interview.

    Love the matching socks. Those are actually the next pair I plan to buy, whenever I next purchase a non-grab bag of ProCompression. Just so hard to pass up the deals on the grab bag, haha.

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    1. The grab bag is a GREAT deal. But if you are me and HAVE ALL THE SOCKS, you have to buy them individually!

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  3. Very cool interview! I watched Felicity and Alias - so long ago!! I think this is so great about spreading awareness and donating to the Epilepsy foundation! Congrats on your friend's 50K! I haven't done one yet, but it totally on my bucket list. Have a great day!

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    1. You are my hero! A 50K? I couldn't do it!

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  4. What a great cause for you to highlight, Smitha, and what an exciting opportunity to visit with Greg! Um, I definitely need to come back for that giveaway tomorrow, girl - woo hoo! Thanks so much for linking up with the blog and I hope your week is off to a great start!

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  5. As the parent of a special needs child, I love bringing awareness to some of the challenges people face everyday! Very cool!

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    1. Thank you Sara! Sometimes we forget there are ithers out there just like us who could lend support!

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  6. Very cool about those interviews. We have done the special date night with our boys and it works well! That giveaway looks awesome!!

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    1. We need to be better with one on one time. I think because we have pone boy and one girl, we naturally gravitate towards our same sex child. :-(

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