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Two febrile seizures in less than 30 hours

Posted on March 24, 2009 8:29 am by TheAngelForever

Yes, you read the subject line correct. Life here at Chez Angel has been turned upside down since early Saturday evening. When we left the ER Saturday night with no answers and over 24 hours to go before seeing our doctor I was beyond nervous. As the parent of two children that have had febrile seizures, I know that the following 48 hours are the most common for a repeat.

NHL had his febrile seizure when he was 11 months old and is now almost six years old. Finally getting out of the danger zone. When I was little I had three, but none were back-to-back. JL had two as a child and to my knowledge both were seperated by time.

JSL apparently had to be different.

Everything from Sunday night is a blur. I went to sit in bed with my computer and got tired, so I turned off the light. The little guy was next to me to make it easier to medicate him during the night. At 10:30 we opted to let him sleep, rather than wake him for the fever reducers. This decision would soon come to bite us in the you know what.

The next thing I remember is it being midnight and SCREAMING for JL to come quickly. I do not even recall waking up. I just remember pulling JSL to me as he was once again rigid, thrashing/shaking and frothing from the mouth.

After a few seconds (not that I actually timed it), he was done with the seizure. He was burning up. I got Motrin for him and called my parents to come over. I thought that we would be going to the hospital for sure and needed someone to be with NHL. Next I called the doctor at about 12:30 and waited to hear from him. He called back after everyone else was here. He did not want us to go to the ER. Instead our main goal was to give JSL fever reducing medications every two hours the rest of the night.

We did just that and brought him to see the doctor yesterday morning. We believe that he has a sinus infection and may have a hidden ear infection. JSL is now on an antibiotic to try to kick this in the butt. Of course the fever is still hanging in there. Every two hours we are dosing up one fever reducer or another. Here is the little guy after he returned home from seeing the doctor.

To add to the excite, NHL has been on a steroid for his breathing troubles the last three days. He finishes this up today. Then yesterday, his allergist called back with more detailed results of his adenoid/sinus x-rays from Wednesday. The adenoids still look great, but he did not like the way the sinuses looked. Given that he was still very stuffy and actively blowing mucus out of his nose, he is now on an antibiotic as well.

This is medicine chart central and our own personal mini pharmacy.

This morning JSL’s temperature started to go way up again. So, it will be another day of fever reducers every two hours and the second dose of antibiotic later this afternoon. With any luck we can kick this thing and stop worrying about more nightmare moments. Of course you know that I will forever worry given how quickly these last two febrile seizures came out of no where.

Categories:
bad news doctor jsl nhl photos sick kid vent

13 Months later – the nightmare returns

Posted on March 22, 2009 11:15 am by TheAngelForever

My body is completely numb and my mind is still racing. Just before sitting down to eat dinner last night my worst nightmare came true again. Almost thirteen months after it happened before, JSL stopped breathing and turned blue.

One minute he was chasing after his big brother, the next he slumped over on the floor next to my legs. It all happened so quickly it seems like a blur to me.

JL and I were helping NHL to try on a new bike helmet. JSL was sitting on the floor behind my legs watching Sesame Street. Suddenly we heard JSL grunting. We thought he was a little constipated and doing his business. Then I looked a little closer and his head slumped forward. I picked him up and honestly thought he was gagging on something. I tried to do back blows and other things to get something out of his mouth. When I tried to reach into his mouth I could not open it.

This should have been a light bulb moment. Of course I was not thinking. I was in a panic. My 22 month old son was rapidly turning blue. First his face and second later his hands. His life flashed before my eyes as we prayed that the emergency personel would arrive soon. O could not get his mouth open. His jaws were clenched down on my fingers as I tried with all my might to get into his mouth. Then I noticed his entire body was rigid.

By the time everyone arrived, I was pretty sure he was not choking on something. I was positive he had another serizure. When the EMT came in he seemed a little warm, but nothing too alarming. Problem was, he was unresponsive. His eyes were glazed over and he was not respnding to my voice. The lights were barely on and nobody was home. We quickly determind that he had to go via ambulance to the ER. I sat on the stretcher with him in my arms.

The ride to the hospital was awful. Nobody said anything to me. They worked on their papers as I sat there talking to JSL. He was starting to respond some. If I asked where Mama was he was able to move his hand to point in my direction. He would also point to the lights inside the ambulance when I asked. Slowly he was showing signs of my little boy.

After we arrived in the ER and were taken to a room they did a rectal temperature. It may sound horrible, but I was relieved to see that he was extremely feverish. At that point his temperatuer was 103.5. JL and my mother were there with me as we waitied to see the resident. She came in and looked in his ears and checked him out.

Two hours after we arrived we were told it was time to go home. His temperature was down to 100.8 with Motrin. The part that leaves me freaked out – we do not know what caused the sudden, freak spike in temperaure. Actually, we do not know what continues to keep his temperature up. This morning it was up to 102. So today we are staying home, keeping him cool and rotating different fever reducing mediations to the little guy. Tomorrow we will follow up with our doctor to see if anything is suddenly visible in his ears or elsewhere.

Categories:
bad news doctor jsl sick kid vent

Swimming photo fun

Posted on March 18, 2009 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

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fun jl jsl my boys nhl road trip weekend Wordless Wednesday

Fat lip FALLout

Posted on March 17, 2009 9:04 am by TheAngelForever

My heart stops every time I hear a giant thud. JSL is on the move constantly. He is running and climbing all over the place. Last night, I was in the kitchen making green dip for NHL’s kindergarten Green Food Festival. JL and NHL were on the couch for nebulizer time. JSL had been watching me and ran off through the dining room to the living room. All of the sudden we I heard a giant crash. My heart went right to my throat and I ran into the dining room.

In the dining room I found JSL face down screaming and clutching his mouth on the hardwood floor. While running he must have lost his footing and went down hard. As soon as I picked him up he continued to hold his mouth/chin area.

JL rushed over and by this point the little guy’s mouth was filling with blood quickly. I immediately thought the worst. Sure, I know that mouths are vascular and bleed badly, but I could not assess the situation. JSL was screaming, would not open his mouth and blood was now getting onto his shirt.

I grabbed the phone and called Nana asking her to please come over. At this point I did not know if JSL had a tooth bent, if he cut his tongue or what. Nana said she was on her way.

We took JSL into the kitchen and tried to clean his mouth to get a look. I immediately saw that his lip was now 2-3 times the normal size on the bottom. Then we pulled his lip down and saw a huge gash on the inside. By the time Nana arrived he was putting some ice on his lip and she was able to get into his mouth for a better look. His teeth looked fine and did not seem to wiggle. We gave him Motrin and opted to skip brushing teeth since we did not want to disturb the clot on his lip.

Thankfully, JSL slept very well last night. This morning the swelling in his lip looks much better. Later I plan on tackling him to check his teeth. Not sure if I should call the dentist or not. At this point there isn’t much that they can no anyway. Still I worry, I guess that is just me being a mom. Here is a cute photo from Sunday of my little guy before he looked like he got into a fight.

So does anyone know where I can get some toddler sized hockey goalie gear, including a helmet, for JSL? Seriously it is that or putting him inside a bubble!

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bad news jsl messy ouchie photos

Weekend away and pool time

Posted on March 16, 2009 1:20 pm by TheAngelForever

When JL made the reservation at the hotel for the weekend, having a pool was a huge perk. One of the hotels had it closed for a function for the evening thanks to a party. We quickly said no to that hotel thanks to that and no free breakfast.

After going to the outlets on the way to the hotel (great deals on clothing and shoes for the kids), heading to an important store that is not close to home, and meeting my sister-in-law and her family for dinner we opted not to go in the pool Saturday. We figured the kids would be more fresh and enjoy it Sunday morning after a quick breakfast. What I fail to mention was the stress of getting lost twice after we arrived at our destination. Google Maps said the one store was on the left, nope on the right. We managed to quickly find our location. Going home from the mall at night was not the same. A 12 minute ride took us over 45 very stressful minutes. When we arrived back at our room after 9:00 I was already in a mood. The noise issues going to 2:00 in the morning did not help.

The morning brought a new day and we were hoping to have some fun in the pool. I opted not to swim and take photos. This was partially thanks to my electric razor dying and needing a new part. Nol retailers locally feel the need to sell said items for women, and only do for men. *sigh* If you know of any online that sell the foil guard and blades please let me know.

NHL was told that he could not go in the pool right away. His behavior at breakfast left a lot to be desired. So he sat on the side looking around. He was not happy about it, but he sat patiently hoping that we would let him into the pool.

JL tried to take JSL into the water. When he put his little toes into the water the result was this:

Note that rather large tear in his eyes. He was not happy and wanted nothing to do with the COLD water! I grabbed JSL, put him onto the sidelines and we allowed NHL to go into the water. JSL was really tired and happy to sit and watch. Plus he liked getting down to look at his Jibbitz.

Meanwhile NHL adjusted to the cold water and had a blast with Daddy.

NHL played in the pool for 45 minutes or so. Then it was time for all of us to head back to the room to shower, get dressed and pack our things up. We had a double birthday party to head to. The pool time fun for NHL was well worth the money. Now if only the black mold in the shower had not ruined things so quickly (JL did not notice it, but to me it was hard to miss). I guess that should have been a sign that things were going to continue to go downhill.