My goal is that this post not be as long as the last couple of days have been, but I make no promises!
Wednesday morning Reuben had the first of two seizures at home. He was playing in the kitchen when I heard the unmistakable sound of head hitting hard wood. It was not followed by a cry so I went to him to see why. He was lying on the floor seized with his eyes rolled back. I would like to say that handled the situation calmly, but I went into hysterics. I called 911 while I told Jonah to go get our neighbor across the street. He was calm and did great! (Thankfully he may have more Jordan in him than me when it comes to situations like this!) Reuben's lips started turning blue then he started thrashing but breathing and then it was over. I don't know how long it lasted. I know I was frustrating the 911 operator!
My neighbor came as well as the EMTs. I managed a quick (and I am sure confusing call) to my sister to send my mom and repeatedly call Jordan until she got a hold of him. He was in Rock Island, IL for business meetings. I had already tried him once but got voicemail. God is good, and my mom "happened" to only be minutes away. There was nothing that the EMTs could do for Reuben at that point I just had a rush of decisions to make. Go to the Dr's office or ER? Drive or take the ambulance? I decided ER and drive. Next was which ER to go to? To go alone or take my mom or my neighbor? I decided I wanted mom to stay with the other kids and my neighbor insisted on driving me. I am so glad that I had Jordan's co-worker's cell phone number in my phone. I got a hold of Isaac, and he called the Rock Island office. Jordan called me back within minutes that he was already on the road!
We went to the downtown Mercy ER. Reuben was silent the whole way down there and was very agitated in the exam room. The nurse told me that they would run a couple of tests, and that I would probably have to make an appointment with Reuben's pediatrician. He would decide how much further testing to do.
She left the room, and Reuben got increasingly upset. Then he arched back into another seizure. I buzzed the nurse. A crew came in and immediately began working on him. There just "happened" to be a doctor outside Reuben's room at that exact moment. I have no idea what kind of Dr he was. I know that he was not the doctor that was on duty in the peds ER. (He was just in a baseball hat and shorts!) He was who God wanted working with Reuben then. He took control of the situation and 4 1/2 minutes into the seizure ordered the drugs to stop it. (That is a LONG seizure!) He told me to be ready to jump on the bed with Reuben just as soon as he got him ready. They were busy with oxygen, blood tests, a catheter, heart monitors, i.v., you name it. I was so glad to curl up beside him a half hour later! We went pretty quickly to the CAT scan, but I had to stay outside because I am pregnant. Then we waited for Daddy!
The pediatrician at the Children's Center of the hospital would not admit him until he had had spinal tap which lengthened our time in the ER. I knew I was not going to watch that. Jordan was on the fence, but one of the Drs advised him not to. All the tests came back normal.
Wednesday morning I was concerned with how abnormal Reuben was. He was like a 30 lb 3 month old! We had FANTASTIC nurses on Wednesday. They took me seriously and got concerned as well. They brought in 3 doctors who assessed him and were also concerned. He could not sit up on his own, had little head control, couldn't' chew, and was over all very lethargic. Everything was waiting on his EEG that would be taken that day. The EGG came back normal and Reuben made some cognitive progress through out the afternoon. He still didn't have a sense of balance, but was saying a few words! They ordered another blood test to see if he happened to still have the drugs from Tuesday in his system affecting his balance. There were no drugs so no explanation for his behavior. It was up to us if we stayed another night to get an MRI in the morning or go home and see if he regained balance over night and go from there. We decided that it would be best for all 5 of us to go home and regroup for the night.
Reuben slept through the night. Jordan graciously volunteered to sleep on the floor in his room so that I could get a good night's sleep in bed. Jonah needed us to go home. He was brave in the midst of the seizure, but was a little shaken up by the whole thing! This morning Reuben was able to sit on his own and play with toys. He also stole the coffee cake off my plate so he is eating solids again! He cannot walk, but thinks that he can. This is proving frustrating to both of us! We will call the pediatrician and go from there!
There is a family history of seizures being established on Jordan's side amongst his nieces and nephews. Reuben is now the 3rd one to experience seizures at a similar age preceded by some sort of virus. They have not experienced any complications from the seizures or experienced any more. That is what we are assuming for Reuben at this point.
Everyone was been so wonderful with their prayers and concern for us. I really feel that others are carrying this little burden with us! We are so blessed to be surrounded by wonderful family, church, friends and neighbors!
Wednesday morning Reuben had the first of two seizures at home. He was playing in the kitchen when I heard the unmistakable sound of head hitting hard wood. It was not followed by a cry so I went to him to see why. He was lying on the floor seized with his eyes rolled back. I would like to say that handled the situation calmly, but I went into hysterics. I called 911 while I told Jonah to go get our neighbor across the street. He was calm and did great! (Thankfully he may have more Jordan in him than me when it comes to situations like this!) Reuben's lips started turning blue then he started thrashing but breathing and then it was over. I don't know how long it lasted. I know I was frustrating the 911 operator!
My neighbor came as well as the EMTs. I managed a quick (and I am sure confusing call) to my sister to send my mom and repeatedly call Jordan until she got a hold of him. He was in Rock Island, IL for business meetings. I had already tried him once but got voicemail. God is good, and my mom "happened" to only be minutes away. There was nothing that the EMTs could do for Reuben at that point I just had a rush of decisions to make. Go to the Dr's office or ER? Drive or take the ambulance? I decided ER and drive. Next was which ER to go to? To go alone or take my mom or my neighbor? I decided I wanted mom to stay with the other kids and my neighbor insisted on driving me. I am so glad that I had Jordan's co-worker's cell phone number in my phone. I got a hold of Isaac, and he called the Rock Island office. Jordan called me back within minutes that he was already on the road!
We went to the downtown Mercy ER. Reuben was silent the whole way down there and was very agitated in the exam room. The nurse told me that they would run a couple of tests, and that I would probably have to make an appointment with Reuben's pediatrician. He would decide how much further testing to do.
She left the room, and Reuben got increasingly upset. Then he arched back into another seizure. I buzzed the nurse. A crew came in and immediately began working on him. There just "happened" to be a doctor outside Reuben's room at that exact moment. I have no idea what kind of Dr he was. I know that he was not the doctor that was on duty in the peds ER. (He was just in a baseball hat and shorts!) He was who God wanted working with Reuben then. He took control of the situation and 4 1/2 minutes into the seizure ordered the drugs to stop it. (That is a LONG seizure!) He told me to be ready to jump on the bed with Reuben just as soon as he got him ready. They were busy with oxygen, blood tests, a catheter, heart monitors, i.v., you name it. I was so glad to curl up beside him a half hour later! We went pretty quickly to the CAT scan, but I had to stay outside because I am pregnant. Then we waited for Daddy!
The pediatrician at the Children's Center of the hospital would not admit him until he had had spinal tap which lengthened our time in the ER. I knew I was not going to watch that. Jordan was on the fence, but one of the Drs advised him not to. All the tests came back normal.
Wednesday morning I was concerned with how abnormal Reuben was. He was like a 30 lb 3 month old! We had FANTASTIC nurses on Wednesday. They took me seriously and got concerned as well. They brought in 3 doctors who assessed him and were also concerned. He could not sit up on his own, had little head control, couldn't' chew, and was over all very lethargic. Everything was waiting on his EEG that would be taken that day. The EGG came back normal and Reuben made some cognitive progress through out the afternoon. He still didn't have a sense of balance, but was saying a few words! They ordered another blood test to see if he happened to still have the drugs from Tuesday in his system affecting his balance. There were no drugs so no explanation for his behavior. It was up to us if we stayed another night to get an MRI in the morning or go home and see if he regained balance over night and go from there. We decided that it would be best for all 5 of us to go home and regroup for the night.
Reuben slept through the night. Jordan graciously volunteered to sleep on the floor in his room so that I could get a good night's sleep in bed. Jonah needed us to go home. He was brave in the midst of the seizure, but was a little shaken up by the whole thing! This morning Reuben was able to sit on his own and play with toys. He also stole the coffee cake off my plate so he is eating solids again! He cannot walk, but thinks that he can. This is proving frustrating to both of us! We will call the pediatrician and go from there!
There is a family history of seizures being established on Jordan's side amongst his nieces and nephews. Reuben is now the 3rd one to experience seizures at a similar age preceded by some sort of virus. They have not experienced any complications from the seizures or experienced any more. That is what we are assuming for Reuben at this point.
Everyone was been so wonderful with their prayers and concern for us. I really feel that others are carrying this little burden with us! We are so blessed to be surrounded by wonderful family, church, friends and neighbors!
Oh T, how Scary!!!! We are praying for a FULL recovery for your lil boy! So glad you are home.
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