To seize the day, or just "seize"? That is the question.

On Saturday, June 2, 2007, we moved to Houston. On Monday, June 11, 2007, Miguel had his first and, hopefully, ONLY seizure episode. Words cannot fully describe the feelings associated with this event but the episode, is believed to be (by me), a build up of events that caused it. Let's rewind to April 2007, one of Miguel's classmates blessed the classroom with "Fifth's disease".

According to the Internet, it is highly contagious, there is no remedy, it presents like a cold/flu with a "rash" and it takes approximately 3 weeks to run it's course. So it started with one child getting sick and coming to school. As the child's illness developed, it was found to be "Fifth's disease".

I was notified of this, as Miguel had been presenting with his symptoms of illness, e.g., won't sit down, cries intermittently for no reason, hand juts in the air, he puts his shoulder through the neck of his shirt, bangs his head, can't sleep, INCESSANT need for baths or pool time (he'd take 5-10 baths a night), etc... Miguel was sent home repeatedly throughout May, with what teachers thought (every time) was a "rash". Motrin would keep the symptoms at bay and then after a few good days for Miguel, he'd decompensate. This went on for 3 weeks, into June, per the course of "Fifth's disease". After the third week, Miguel hadn't shown improvement and grew intolerable.

Friday, June 8, 2007, I found a pediatrician--yes, again by location BUT he is AWESOME!--and I brought Miguel in for a check up. HE HAD A FLAMMING EAR INFECTION!!!!

YYYEEEEEEEAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!

I love answers to bizarre occurrences!!!! So he started on antibiotics and life was good by Sunday and Monday.

Monday, June 11, 2007, Miguel and I went for our daily swim 1-2 hours poolside. We came in to shower and Miguel experienced mass quantities of PROJECTILE VOMIT ALL OVER THE BEDROOM!!!

Yeah, that was awesome.

It wreaked of chlorine, which wasn't so bad to clean up. So, needless to say, Miguel took the first bath while I cleaned the streaking spatterings of vomit.

After the bath he grew lethargic and fell asleep on the bed. I figured, I'd be tired, too, if I blew chunks like that and had been sick for a month without sleep. So I let the sweet guy sleep while I showered.

We moved down to the family room and sat on the sofa. Miguel drifted back to sleep, which was such a sweet delight since I had no respite from his Autistic-ness in FOREVER during the day. Miguel has not taken a nap in 8 years.... THIS WAS AWESOME!!!

Just me and my little dude, chillin on the sofa while I channel surfed...I really can't express how awesome it felt to be relaxed with my son. Uh, give me a minute....

Ok, so we are sitting there with his head against my shoulder and he leans back, arches his back, stretches his arms like an AWESOME FEELING STRETCH and stretches his legs out. I'm looking at him, a little envious of his relaxed state, and I see a bit of his tongue in between his lips and his eyes are shut while he stretches....wow, this seems to be going on a bit longer than a "stretch" should be......

as I think this....

His body starts shaking, his eyes slit open, I can see only the whites of his eyes, as his eyelids flutter, his face tenses and turns blue, all while his extremities are extended in a locked position. I quickly tried to collapse his knees and put his arms down, to throw him over my leg....I thought and hoped he was choking...but his body wasn't willing. My brother's girlfriend, Angela, is a nurse, of all things, and was upstairs getting ready for work. I started screaming for her, over and over, but she couldn't hear me over the hair dryer and music. I grabbed my cell and called 9-1-1 for an ambulance while I was holding Miguel on my lap...oh geez, I'd love to hear how I sounded during that call...

The paramedics were in route and Angela came downstairs to help while I packed a backpack of clothes, Miguel's medical records and medications. I went outside to meet the paramedics and Miguel had a smaller seizure on the floor while he was with Angela. I called my brother, who spoke with the paramedics (he knew them), and we were off to Texas Children's Hospital.

Miguel was lethargic during transport and in the ER. We were going to get discharged from the ER, against my wishes, because the doctor said that "it sounded like a seizure" the way I had described it but he wasn't sure. He said that Miguel's sodium was low (127) but not "scary low", not "low enough that it'd cause a seizure". So we could "go home and if it happens again...just come back, otherwise, follow up with our pediatrician." Geez, doctors can be so damn smart! Turd.

Thankfully, Miguel seized again in the ER which granted us an admission!!! He was there for 3 wretchedly difficult days. It is a great hospital but blind/Autistic kids don't go well with IV's and leads. :(

I stayed with Miguel all day and night, with one chance to go home and shower. I laid in bed with him all day b/c he'd rip his IV's and leads out at every opportunity. The nurses were awesome and the doctors were ok.


In retrospect, I should've asked for Miguel to receive a sedative because he was a HUGE BALL OF AGGRESSIVE ENERGY. He was headbutting me, the bed rail, screaming all day...the admission ranked with the worst 3 days of my life, having to deal with Miguel.

The endocrine staff was slow to respond to my questions and getting information from Children's Hospital of Wisconsin. Why wouldn't an endocrinologist want to know what Miguel's normal labs look like? Without knowing a baseline, how do you know how to treat? I had to badger them to call his old doctor for the info. The results of that are...

Miguel's sodium dropped to 124 in the ER after that seizure (120 is suppose to be "scary low" according to the ER doc). However, Miguel's baseline sodium levels are usually "high normal" at 145.



So, after bugging the crap out of the staff to get this info, Miguel was at 140 on the last day and the endocrinologist wanted to keep him another for observation. I told her we could not stay another day, unless she laid in bed with Miguel 24 hours a day to get headbutted and stop him from ripping his IVs and leads out.

We were discharged that afternoon.

We were discharged with Endocrinology and Neurology appointments for follow up. Of course, none of them were covered by my insurance policy.

Hey, good job TCH! So I had to wait in line until November to see an endocrinologist and I found that kook neurologist in October.....my cup runneth over....

Let's go back to the sodium levels and my belief of what caused the seizure.... Due to Miguel being sick for so long and his illness symptom being "incessant bathing". I believe that over a month and a half of increased bath time and increase in drinking bath water (yes, he does that. It's sick.) and now pool water, he depleted his sodium so low he seized. I think that this wouldn't have happened if we still lived in IL because he wouldn't have access to a pool regularly and I'd lock the bathroom door in the apartment. I don't think he would have been able to deplete his sodium in that environment and I may have been more apt to take him to his pediatrician (.5 miles away), as I was hesitant to find him one here.

What a lesson learned?!?!

"Common sense is not so common."-- Voltaire