Look at that bruise! :(
I am so glad to be home. I'm so glad to be home with my husband and my two living, breathing, beautiful boys. Last Thursday was the scariest day of our lives. Joe was home with Logan, who'd had a fever, when he started having a seizure. Joe called 911, they walked him through how to cool him down until the paramedics arrived, and then the seizure stopped. He later told me he thought he was watching his baby die, right in his arms. I got home right as the fire truck pulled around our corner and stopped in front of our house. It was so horrible coming inside and seeing Logan lying on the ground, completely lifeless. They said he was responsive because when they said his name, his eyes would flutter, momentarily. He was given oxygen, his temperature was taken (over 103 degrees), they tested his blood sugar, and finally, thankfully, he was crying! We gave him a room-temperature bath, then off the the hospital we went. He had a CT scan, chest x-rays, and they tested his blood. The tests were slowly coming back as 'normal,' so we were all set to go home (Joe had already left, thinking we would follow shortly, since he works early). Then, Logan started awake, in my arms, and started seizing again. I hadn't seen the first one, so it was such a shock and I felt so completely helpless. I kept trying to soothe him and talk to him, as if that would be any help. I had called for help, and the nurses and doctors rushed in to give him oxygen and try to help. After 1 1/2 minutes, he stopped. His temp was taken again, and he was 104.2 degrees. The doctor told us she was pretty sure he was having febrile seizures-- a type of seizure about 5% of kids get when there's a sharp spike in a fever, usually ending by age 5. But, the uncommon part was that he'd had two so close together. They gave Logan a spinal tap, to test for meningitis, but that was negative (that experience alone was awful-- it took them an hour, and eventually a sedative, just to do the test-- he fought them so hard!). So, instead of going home, a few hours later we were transferred to Scottsdale Shea hospital for a day and a half of observation, since they had a pediatric neurologist there. His IV had to be re-done there, and boy did he fight! The nurse burst a vein, resulting in an awful bruise. That boy tried pulling out his IV so many times, I can't even count! But, the wonderful part is that every time Logan's temperature was down, he was the sweet, crazy, active boy I know. At both hospitals, he was running up and down the hospital halls like a crazy man. In Scottsdale, he had the IV attached, so I was running up and down the halls, too, pulling the IV pole alongside me. One nurse, in particular, fell in love with him. She and another nurse spent about 20 minutes Friday afternoon asking him to say different words, because they thought he talked so cute (he really does:). The one nurse kept bringing in other nurses to hear him say "strawberry"-- their favorite word he said. He liked the attention! A random person in the hall gave Logan a "Get Well" balloon, which ended up being a lifesaver when trying to contain this crazy 20-month-old in a bed for hours at a time. When being transferred from Thunderbird hospital, pushed outside on the gurney to get into the ambulance, Logan looked into the still-dark sky and said, "Moon!" searching for the moon, then started singing "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star," much to the amusement of the ambulance drivers. He is so resilient. Kids are so resilient. I think I can learn at least that much from this experience-- make the best of your situation! Logan never seized again, even though his temperatures were up a down all the time.
We left Saturday morning and he's been fine since. After all the testing, they still don't know his sickness-- just a temperature, is all he had. But, we now have a prescription for some medication to stop any future seizures. I pray these are the first two and last two he'll ever have. I'm so grateful for him. I am so grateful my husband and his friend could come to the hospital at 4:30 in the morning to give him a blessing. Life is so fragile. It makes me so much more grateful for what we have.
