Cheering For Jayden

DAYTON - When the Bulldogs cheerleaders get together to raise spirits, they mean business - on the field, on the court or in matters of the heart.

Next Tuesday, March 1, the 12 young women will show Dayton what community support looks like as they hold a spaghetti feed fundraiser for the family of 6-year-old Jayden Dedloff.

Jayden was diagnosed last year with intractable epilepsy, a rare seizure disorder. He suffers from four different generalized seizure types, making the syndrome difficult to diagnose and treat.

"It basically means his seizures do not respond solely with medication, and that's why we're struggling so much to get control," said Kassandra Dedloff, Jayden's mother.

Dedloff has been the Dayton cheer coach for the last four years. When Jayden's condition took a turn for the worse this winter, she had to resign from her position as city clerk's assistant at Dayton City Hall - and she stepped down as cheer coach.

"They wouldn't let me quit, though," she said. "Everybody's hope is that he'll be doing better and I can continue coaching next year."

In the interim, longtime cheer volunteer Jana Eaton has stepped in as coach, aided by community volunteer TJ Walker, who has experience in cheering.

And the Dayton cheerleaders are raising funds to help with the Dedloff family's medical costs.

"With Kassandra being our coach, and knowing it would really meant a lot to her if we helped, we wanted to do something to help her through her hard times," said sophomore cheerleader Chelsey Martin. "She and Jayden mean a lot to us."

Dayton athletes are required to complete a community service project as part of the athletic program, and this is the project the cheerleaders decided on for this year.

"Jayden was diagnosed with a seizure disorder last year, and the girls have witnessed how the seizure disorder has affected Jayden and his family and wanted to help them some way," said Jody Martin, mother of Chelsey Martin and a big supporter for this fundraiser.

The fundraiser will take place Tuesday, from 6-8 p.m., in the multipurpose room at Dayton Elementary School. The cost is $10 per ticket. Tickets are available at Main Street Salon in Dayton, at the door or from a Dayton High School cheerleader.

"It's so nice and wonderful," Dedloff said. "I'm very thankful. I have a very supportive cheer family."

Dedloff herself was a cheerleader for the Dayton Bulldogs from 1999- 2003. Her parents, Sylvia and Frank Demaris, live in Dayton and provide muchneeded support to Dedloff and her husband, Steven. The Dedloffs also have a younger daughter, Madison, who is just 3 ½ years old.

"We wouldn't be able to do this without our families," Dedloff said. Steven's parents, Ralph and Ruth Dedloff, also live in the Dayton area.

The Dedloffs have medical insurance, but the money the cheerleaders raise will help pay for travel expenses, hotel stays and future medical needs.

Over the past four months, Jayden has been hospitalized on four different occasions with uncontrollable seizures. This rare disorder has led the family to seek treatment at Seattle Children's Hospital and Swedish Medical Epilepsy Hospital.

"It's been a hard year for us," Dedloff said. Jayden's first seizure was Aug. 31, 2009, from there he continued to develop more complications.

Jayden, who just turned 6 this month, is a sweet and loving boy who loves to draw, do puzzles, play outside and go for walks, said Jody Martin.

His condition has meant some delays in his normal development, Dedloff said, "but we're working through that with therapy through the school district and St. Mary's in Walla Walla."

"He's an amazing little boy, just a little fighter," she said.

The family has been working with a modified Atkins diet for seizures with Jayden, but they just recently switched to a Ketogenic diet. Dedloff doesn't want to go into much detail about it - the therapy is brand new to them and she's just hopeful it works.

But it's an extremely high fat, low protein and carbohydrates diet. The idea is that when normal children consume carbs, the sugars fire up the brain. With children who have epilepsy, she said, they already have a lot of activity and firing in the brain, so you want to eliminate that.

"We have a lot of hope," Dedloff said. "There's really been some miracles with it for some families."

Donations for the Dedloff family may be made to Jayden Dedloff at Dayton's Sterling Savings Bank.