Tuesday, March 6, 2012

Eight long minutes

On Sunday night, Jayvan was a bit fussy, but we assumed it was due to his teeth.  He wasn't sleeping well and around 2:00 am he woke up crying/screaming. He felt a little feverish. I picked him up and within seconds, he started seizing in my arms. Unfortunately, we've already had the experience of dealing with febrile seizures with Lexi.  However Jayvan's seizing was quite different in appearance.  Instead of going completely stiff, his body was jerking and he was screaming.  He never stopped breathing.  I just held him on his side and he continued to seize for almost two minutes before we decided we needed to call 911.  I was frantic.  I couldn't believe how long the seizure was lasting.  Matt was on the phone with 911 and the ambulance was on its way.

As the paramedics, firemen, and policemen were walking up our driveway (6 minutes after Matt had called), Jayvan stopped seizing.  Eight long minutes after his body first began to jerk in my arms, he was limp and exhausted.  The EMTs started taking his vitals and blood sugar.  He was still not opening his eyes or responding to us, so we decided to transport to Children's Mercy.  I rode in the ambulance with Jayvan and Matt waited for his dad to get to the house so he could drive to the hospital.

Here he is in the ambulance.


He started to open his eyes in the ambulance, but he wouldn't track with his eyes or look at me.  His eyes were basically rolled back like he was looking at the ceiling.  The EMT asked me if that is how his eyes normally looked and I think I shot him a glance that answered that question.  He answered for himself, "No, of course not."

We got to the hospital and settled into a room.  The nurse explained that it was a busy night in the ER and we had a bit of a wait ahead of us.  After being pretty fussy for most of the ambulance ride, Jayvan finally settled in for a little nap.


Finally after being there for about and hour and a half the doctor came in and did an exam.  That was about the same time that Jayvan started coming out of his daze and we finally saw his gorgeous little smile again.

The doctor decided that he had Hand, Foot & Mouth Disease because she saw some red spots on his palate.  While is fever only got up to 101.0, the assumption is that it spiked quickly and that is what caused the seizure.  We will not pursue more neurological testing unless he has more seizures. So, we went home around 5 am.

Unfortunately, he started vomiting around noon on Monday and has had a hard time keeping anything down.  We called the nurse line and they said to just keep an eye on him at home because he is still having enough wet diapers. 

We appreciate all of our friends and family who have kept Jayvan in their thoughts and prayers during this illness.  While this has been a miserable experience, we know that we are ultimately so blessed.  Some friends have mentioned that it seemed to be perfectly designed that Jayvan is our son.  We have already dealt with febrile seizures and we know what to do if this should ever happen again.  Here's hoping (and praying) that it doesn't though.

1 comment:

  1. This is just so scary and I'm so happy that Jayvan is recoverying. Hope he's all well soon.

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