Wade Milek was born in 2012 as a seemingly healthy and happy baby. At two weeks old his mom Whitney noticed that he would have moments of jerking movements that looked like seizures. She wrote it off as just normal new born movements and continued loving on her new bundle. At six months old Wade came down with a virus that caused extremely high fevers. Almost immediately he began having tonic clonic seizures and Nate and Whitney rushed him to the ER. Wade was given several rounds of IV medications to treat the infection and seizures. The doctors assumed that Wade was having febrile seizures and did not recommend further evaluation for seizures. About 1 week later Wade was continuing to have seizures and struggling overall. A trip to Wade’s pediatrician led to the discovery that Wade had C-Diff and H-pylori, along with continued seizures. His pediatrician referred him to Rocky Mountain Children’s hospital for treatment and evaluation. Wade fought the two infections for six months and lost nearly 20 pounds, only weighing 16 pounds on his first birthday. The illness put so much stress on Wade’s body that he continued to have seizures. This in some ways was a blessing. The continued seizures earned Wade an appointment with one of the top epileptologist at Rocky Mountain Children’s hospital in Denver. Through many test and a full genetic work up it was determined that Wade had a chromosome duplication that manifested in many ways, including epilepsy. Wade was diagnosed with epilepsy in May of 2013. That was the start of what was a constant nightmare for many years.

Nate and Whitney were riddled with constant anxiety as they worried over Wade and tried to maintain a sense of normalcy for their older son Macoy. Despite being on high doses of anti-seizure medication Wade was still having breakthrough seizures weekly and didn’t seem to be improving. Whitney spent hours researching Wade’s condition and working tirelessly to find the best way to keep Wade safe. As the years went on there were many ambulance trips and hospital stays for Wade. Eventually leading to nearly $130,000 in medical debt. On one occasion Whitney refused an ambulance ride and instead made the 3 hour drive to Denver with Wade in the back seat, all because they couldn’t afford another ambulance ride. She was pulled over on the side of the interstate administering emergency medications to Wade who was on his 13th seizure of the trip.

When Wade was 10 years old his neurologist recommended a service dog for Wade to protect him in his sleep. Wade was still having multiple seizures every week, mostly at night. On one occasion Wade aspirated during a seizure and by the grace of God Nate and Whitney were next to him and able to render aid. However, at 10 years old Wade was too big to share a room with his parents, but he needed a night guard to help him. The cost of a service dog was not something they could afford, but it was something they had to have. Thankfully, Nate and Whitney’s hometown in Wyoming heard their need and jumped into action. The people of their town raised enough money to secure a service dog for Wade in record time.

With their prayers being answered and being so blessed by the people around them they wanted to do the same for other families. That is when they decided to start Western Wyoming Epilepsy Fund. Their goal is to offer support financially and emotionally to other families that face the same battle as them every day.