Rough Morning
Man, did we have a rough morning yesterday. As some of you know, Madie has had febrile seizures in the past, but children usually grow out of them by age 5. Until yesterday morning, we thought Madie had too, we were wrong.
These seizures are brought on by fevers, usually because the body’s temp. rises too quickly. I didn’t even know that she had a fever, yet suddenly she began to seize while lying on the couch. Her eyes rolled back, her limbs began to shake, and she starts to choke on her own saliva. Next she stops breathing and begins to turn gray, and then blue. I set her upright and gather her into my lap in an attempt to help her airways to clear so she can breathe. She loses bowl control. Her eyes are completely vacant. I talk to her soothingly, trying to let her know that I am there, and not to be afraid. I, of course, have no idea if she can hear me or not. I feel totally helpless and can only watch while her body struggles to right it’s self again. As quickly as it began, it stops and she goes to sleep, completely exhausted. She has no recollection of any of it when she wakes up. I am not so lucky having just experienced what is considered one of the most frightening situations a parent can go through.
Holding Madie in my arms while she turned gray and then blue, brought up all of my emotions, all of my pain associated with watching Ben pass way in my arms as well. All I can do is wonder why, even when I know there is no answer.
The doctor has assured us time and time again that these seizures are completely harmless to the child. Even so, we have decided to have an EEG done on Madie to rule out any seizure disorders. This should take place in about 2wks down at Children’s Hospital, and involves getting her up (for the day) at about 1:00am so she’ll be tired enough to fall asleep during the test. We’ll all be sleep deprived together!!
I am so ready for this year to be over! I have no idea what next year has in store for us, but its got to be better than 2006. It needs to be, or I don’t know that I will have the strength to get through it.
On a happier note, we will be posting Lily’s 6wk pictures next week. They turned out great and she’s as cute as ever.
