At the beginning of January Brinley got sick.
She was out with a high fever for several days.
I tried to keep the other kids away from her, boiled the toothbrushes, washed all the sheets, sprayed Lysol everywhere and encouraged good hand washing.
Despite my best efforts little Cammer got sick too.
On his second night with a fever, Taber was holding him when his body went into a violent seizure.
I can't explain how terrifying it is to watch him go through that. My heart pumps with adrenaline, my fingers and hands shake, I feel like I'm going to fall apart because I can't help him. There is literally nothing we can do until it stops. So we lay him on his side and we pray and we tell him we're here and it's going to be okay, but his eyes are rolled back and his jaw is clenched and his body is shaking so hard. All we can do is keep him from hurting himself and wait for the paramedics to arrive.
After 4 excruciating minutes the seizing stopped, Cam went unconscious just as the paramedics walked in. They tried to wake him up but he was unresponsive. Finally with the help of some needle pokes and smelling salts he came to and started crying. They made 3 unsuccessful attempts at starting an IV and finally gave up and put him in Taber's arms on a stretcher and took him out to the ambulance. I stayed back to get the girls settled before I met them at the hospital.
Our neighbors 2 doors to our left came and stayed with the girls, our neighbors next door drove me and my car to the hospital so I wouldn't have to drive when I was emotional. We have the best neighbors in the world.
Our neighbors 2 doors to our left came and stayed with the girls, our neighbors next door drove me and my car to the hospital so I wouldn't have to drive when I was emotional. We have the best neighbors in the world.
When I got to the hospital seeing him on that stretcher tore my heart. I think as parents, if we could, we would trade places with our kids in a heartbeat to protect them from being sick or hurt. Wish I could've done that for him in that moment.
We were in the ER for several hours, doing blood work, getting him stabilized and finding out that it was a double ear infection that had caused the fever that led to his seizure.
Finally they gave us a prescription for antibiotics and told us we could take him home, with instructions to wake up every 3 hours to give him fever medicine and to follow up with a pediatric neurologist.
Back at home the girls had a fun night with our neighbors making frosted blueberry muffins, playing games and reading books. When I left the house, Teya was in her room bawling and praying through tears for her little brother. I didn't have a chance to comfort her (and probably wasn't in a state to do it anyway) So I was so glad when my neighbor texted me this picture to see smiles on hers and Brinley's faces.
We were up most of that night, checking on Cam, giving him medicine, cooling him off in the bath, and watching him for more seizures. Around 7am we put out some breakfast stuff for the girls, with cups of milk in the fridge, set the TV to their favorite channel, and went to bed.
I think we woke up around 11 am, the cereal had been eaten and the girls had managed to entertain themselves for 4 hours while we slept. So grateful they're at a stage they can do that.
For the next few days while Cam was recovering I put everything else on hold so I could just hold and comfort him. When scary things like this happen it puts your life into laser focus on the things that matter most. The only thing on my "to do" list that week was take care of my family, especially Cam.
In the weeks that followed we went back to the hospital several times, meeting with a pediatric neurologist and doing lots of tests.
Cam had a sleep deprived EEG, which means we had to put him to bed late, wake him up early, and deprive him of his nap before the appointment so he'd fall asleep during the test.
It was hard keeping him awake while we drove to the hospital, but it was worth the effort because he fell asleep like a champ, despite having dozens of wires on his head.
Having Daddy there made everything better.
A week after the EEG he went in for an MRI. Because he's so young they had to put him under general anesthesia so he'd stay still, which meant no food or water for 12 hours. Another tough trial for our little guy but he pushed through it.
It helped that he had his own TV and remote in the pre-procedure room to keep his mind off food.
After lots of tests, lots of doctors appointments, and completely draining our entire health spending account before the first month of the year was even over...We had some good news! :)
Cam's EEG and MRI were normal, his brain is beautiful, and he doesn't have a seizure disorder.
The doctor said until he turns 5 or 6, he has a high probability of having more febrile seizures any time he has a fever, so we will have to be extremely vigilant when he is sick. No leaving him alone in the tub, not even for a minute. No letting him climb up in high places where he could seriously hurt himself if he goes into a seizure, that type of thing. We bought a crazy expensive, but super accurate forehead thermometer so we can easily stay on top of his temp when he has a fever, and we filled our medicine cabinets with a hefty supply of children's Tylenol and Motrin. We were also given some medicine we can use kind of like an EpiPen, to stop him from seizing if his seizures go longer than 3 minutes.
Having those resources and a better knowledge of how to handle seizures has given me so much more confidence. I know Cam will probably have another seizure in the future, but I also know exactly what to do, and that this won't last forever. I'm so grateful for doctors, medicine, neighbors, prayers, and my brave little boy who keeps on smiling, even through the rough patches.
