A little background information first... Sam had a fever last Thursday, Friday, Saturday. Motrin took it down each time and he would perk up, play, smile, etc. All was well. He has been a little gunky/congested the last few days but has been feeling well!
This morning Sam and I had our normal breakfast, playtime, trip to the gym and then he went down for his normal morning nap. He woke up a bit before 11:30 and seemed fine. A few minutes later I noticed he was shivering so I took his temperature- 100.something. He suddenly became way snuggly so I continued to check his temp while we snuggled and it continued to climb. At noon it was just over 102. I gave him some Motrin and got Bryan up to speed via text. Here's a picture of the poor guy just laying while I got his medicine ready... poor guy.
Bryan agreed that I should call the doctor just to talk. I spoke with a nurse at our pediatrician's office asking if there was anything I should be doing or watching for since we had dealt with this a few days last week and then again today. She said keep up with the Motrin, pump him full of liquids and keep an eye on him until this time tomorrow and if needed, bring him in then so they could make sure it wasn't more going into the weekend. Pretty standard. Sounded fine to me. Sam perked up again about a half hour after the Motrin and we played, he crawled, I cleaned a little and got ready to have another long night with a kiddo that probably wasn't going to sleep well with a fever.
Since he was happy-chappy and the Motrin seemed to be working (he was busy-busy again and his temp was back down to 100), I decided to run to Target to get some more Motrin so we didn't run out over night. We shopped, he rode in the cart, I talked to a friend on the phone for a bit- all was well. When I got to the front to check out, I saw Abbie, Kate, Luke and Daniel walking towards us- fun surprise to see them at our Target down south!
Two seconds after hugging Ab I said "Hey look- Sam is just staring!" As soon as I said it, Abbie and I both realized something wasn't right. Sam's eyes were glassy and glazed over, he was very still, and his mouth was purple. We pulled him out of the cart and he didn't respond.
The next few minutes went quickly but I think Abbie took him while I called 911... we laid Sam down where they bag your items at the checkout... an off duty EMT came and held him flat... Abbie took the phone and finished with 911 while I was with Sam. We think he was out for about 2 minutes, which obviously felt a lot longer. Then, he all of the sudden snapped out of it and sat up and wanted me. He was fine. Just a sad kid with a fever wanting his mom.
As I sat there and cried and kissed Sam and Abbie gathered up Kate, Luke and Dan, a fellow shopper came up and said that she thought he may have had a seizure- something her daughter did when her fever got too high. Just then, the fire department came in and I told the story. As soon as I was finished, the paramedics came in. The man from the fire department relayed the story to the paramedic as about 6 other paramedics joined us- stretcher and all. Sheesh. They asked me to come out to the ambulance so they could check Sam out.
Once in the ambulance, Sam continued to be normal. His temp was 101.8 and all of his vitals looked fine. I asked right away if it could have been a seizure and they said that's what it looked like.
It seems that Sam had a febrile seizure. Apparently they are common in toddlers and can happen to kids under the age of 5. It’s the body’s way of handling a temperature spike that happens that quickly. Here’s Mayo Clinic’s definition-
A febrile seizure is a convulsion in young children caused by a sudden spike in body temperature, often from an infection. Watching your child experience a febrile seizure can be alarming. It may last only a few minutes, but it may seem like an eternity. Fortunately, febrile seizures aren't as dangerous as they may look. A seizure triggered by a sudden fever is usually harmless and typically doesn't indicate a long-term or ongoing problem. Often, a febrile seizure occurs before parents even realize that their child is ill.
I was given the choice to ride in the ambulance to the nearby hospital to have him checked out there to be on the safe side or they said I would be just fine to call my pediatrician and let them take it from here. I didn’t feel the hospital was necessary since Sam was acting fine so we said our thank yous and goodbyes to the rescue workers and the Target staff and headed to the car with Ab and the kids.
Once I got to the car, I was able to get in touch with Bryan. Not a fun phone call to make. He heard a lot of scary words come spewing out of my mouth pretty quickly. Thankfully he had been in a class today so he was just walking in the door at home. I picked him up and we headed downtown to the doctors office.
They got us right in, gave Sam the once-over, and reassured us everything was fine. Dr. Neil confirmed that it appeared to be a fever-induced seizure, something fairly common in kiddos. He said it’s just the brain’s way of getting a quickly rising fever under control. Sam continued to act fine- crawled around, ate some snacks, got a little Tylenol. He’s a tough boy. We found out that he has an ear infection in his left ear which seems to have caused the fever to return.
Our instructions are to keep overlapping the Motrin and Tylenol and to keep him hydrated and cool. He was smiling and clapping as we walked through Target again this evening when we picked up our medicine! The staff that had seen us three hours before was pretty floored! Sheesh. What excitement we gave them today!!!
We know that God was there with us today. He put me in Target instead of at home where I would have been by myself. He gave me level-headed Abbie who loves us so to help during the situation. He put a calm, off-duty paramedic in the checkout line. He helped Sam’s body do what it needed to do to take care of the situation. He got the paramedics there quickly to take care of us both. He allowed Bryan to be home early so he could go with me to the doctor. He kept Sam safe from any real harm and is allowing him to sleep peacefully in his crib as I am typing this. God will continue to be with him as his body works to fight off this infection over the next few days. God is good. God is good. God is good.
And we know that we have one sweet, tough boy.
3 comments:
How scary, Jenny. I'm so glad little Sam is okay. He is adorable.
Wow! God truly is good, isn't he? To bring you Abbie when he knew you needed her, where she doesn't usually shop even!! That's awesome! Glad Sam's doing better. Poor little man!
I'm so glad he's alright! My youngest nephew had febral (sp??) seizures when he was young, too. They are SO scary!! Hope that lil man of yours is feeling better!! Hugs to all!
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