Tonight we were at my sister-in-laws wedding waiting for supper when I noticed that suddenly Chris was warm. It wasn't 20 min later and he was seizing while sitting on my lap. It was terrifying feeling the whole thing. I know I'm a nurse but we don't deal much with seizures. So I had Jason run and get his sister, Jess (not the bride), to help me assess him (and moreso me!). In the mean time, Jeff and Jason witnessed another one and then he had yet another seizure where he zoned out.
We scarfed our food and then high-tailed it to the nearest Walgreens but before we could get there he had another one. I texted one of our Docs back in O'Neill and he said to take him in. Believe it or not...we got right in. This trip to Children's ER did not entail a 3 hour wait in the waiting area and me in tears! :)
They took us straight back and had him assessed and on our way to being treated. His blood pressure was through the roof, his temp was 103.4 via his ear and he was still postictal (unconcious state post a seizure). He was so lethargic and completely out of it.
A resident came in and was worried about the temp of unknown origin and that we should straight cath him (catherize him to get a urine sample) and if that was negative, we would do blood cultures. I was a little like...WHOA!!! He said his lungs sounded clear although I could feel his chest rattle and I was pretty sure he aspirated this afternoon.
THey gave him a dose of motrin and we waited and waited and waited. About 90 min in to our visit or 2 hours post initial seizure - he came alive!! He was up and down and around and messing with the bed and all giggly. Then we felt retarded for going to the ED, but his temp was still 101.2.
FINALLY the Doctor came in and she was amazing. She answered our questions about seizures and how things that are abnormal to most kids are somewhat expected or "normal" for epileptics. She gave us things to watch for and how to treat and suggestions. She also gave us the option to do lab and CXR or go home and sit on him.
By this time he had a snack and downed 1 1/2 cups of water and was flirting with the doctor. We chose to bring him back to Curt and Cindy's since she had given us the information we had been looking for. She also stated with my background that she was comfortable sending us home.
Since our visit he's been very restless and the fever is creeping back. I worry about the fever as this is our 2nd fever in less than 2 weeks and we aren't real sure as to where it's coming from although with his cough, I'm curious as to whether his lungs will start to sound crappy again.
Of course I had to tell Jen of the possible aspiration and her thought was that he may have aspirated because of a seizure which throws us in to another whole new ballpark.
I still feel like we are wandering aimlessly on this journey of trying to give our son the best care possible. I had heard about the epilepsy clinic at UNMC and it's rave reviews, but unfortunately they turned us down due to his age.
Our journey is beginning yet again. The best thing out of tonight was that Jason was with me. That helped the stress level in and of itself.
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