Alex was born with a rare genetic disorder, Tuberous Sclerosis Complex. This is a neurocutaneous disorder which primarily affects the brain and skin, but also often involves the kidneys, heart, and lungs. Basically, persons with this disease seem to lack certain tumor-suppressing chemicals which results in benign tumors in many of the body's major organs and some pretty interesting skin markings. To learn more about the disease, visit the Tuberous Sclerosis Alliance. In Alex's case, he has a large number of brain growths, called tubers (hence the name of the disease), which are basically calcified brain tissue. The problem with that is that abnormalities in the structure of the brain tend to lead towards seizures. Since when most people hear "seizure" they think grand mal, I thought I should make it clear that Alex's seizures have been the much less dramatic partial seizures. The great news is that Alex has not had any detectable seizures since the Fall of 2005 (he is, of course, on some pretty good anti-seizure medications). The bad news is that Alex's seizures and abnormal brain wave patterns have led to significant developmental delays, for which he gets a lot of therapy. It's not always easy, but we are working hard with him. As you can see in the pictures, he's a delightful (not so) little guy with a really playful and impish spirit who loves nothing more than to play with his baby brother.

What can you do to help those who suffer from this disease? Well, knowledge is always a good thing, so check out the TS Alliance website. If you are one of those people who likes your computer to be doing something useful when you are not using it, drop your search for extraterrestial intelligence and install this program that looks for drugs to treat TSC.