Wednesday, January 1, 2014

Happy New Year! (First Seizure Episodes)

This day will remain forever etched in our minds.

The holiday season had been filled with sickness for us: stomach flu for most of us and extended family, colds for most of us, 3 cases of pink eye and a strained back (due to vomiting with the stomach flu). We actually came home from celebrating with Dave's family a day early because we just wanted to recover for a day.

After eating lunch, I was holding Teddy while Dave and AJ finished eating. Teddy suddenly went limp and started shaking. I looked at Dave and we were confused as to what was happening. As it continued, we thought it was a seizure but had never experienced one. We called the nurse call line for our insurance to see what to do and were instructed to call 911.

We prepped AJ for the paramedics by telling him some special friends were coming to check on Teddy. When the paramedics arrived, they checked out Teddy, who was mostly back to normal. Since all his vitals were fine, they said we could transport him ourselves.

We headed to the ER with AJ in tow. Dave's folks headed down to pick up AJ, and my mom began the 2.25 hour drive to our place as well. While at the ER, Teddy was kind enough to have another seizure, so we weren't the only ones to witness it.

After scary hours, including debates of whether to send us via ambulance to Children's Hospital in Milwaukee, we were released with a diagnosis of febrile seizures as he had a fever of 100.8°F. The diagnosis didn't quite fit because they typically don't occur until a child is at least 6 months, but we left with the hope that this would be the only time it occurred and a referral to a pediatric neurologist.


And this is the start of us realizing how unique Teddy was ... although this was the tip of the iceberg.