Day from Hell

I have had a hell of a day, and it just kept getting worse. I had to call 911 tonight for an ambulance, and it wasn't for Brian. Tye had a seizure because his temp was so high.

Tye went to school today acting fine; they called me after the fall party around 11 because he was running a temp of 101. By the time I picked him up and got home with him, it was 102.5. I gave him Motrin and called the doctor's office for an appt. since we are leaving tomorrow for Chicago. I hadn't taken Brian to have his labs drawn yet, so the 3 of us ventured out around 1:45 after Tye had slept for almost 2 hours.

On the way to the doctor's office, Brian had twitching in his right leg and jerking in the right arm. It lasted for about 1/4 mile, and then stopped. His muscle tone is so bad right now, and we just figured it was a muscle spasm. Brian went in for his labs while we waited. He came out before we went in, so he was sitting in a wheelchair in the waiting room. They called us in, and I had just enough time to tell the nurse what was up with Tye when another nurse came in to get me to come for Brian. I thought maybe he needed to use the bathroom. He was in an exam room a few doors down. Apparently, when I went in, a minute or so later, his leg started twitching again, then his arm. He asked a nurse to help him, and as she came to him, his head started jerking to the right. They wheeled him back to a room right away, and by the time I got in there, it had stopped. They suspect either a major muscle spasm, which is likely because his leg does the bouncing when it is in certain positions, not all the time. Also, his muscles kind of did a twitchy wave move, plus Brian could describe what happened. They also suspect a simple seizure, which would easily have happened with all they have done to his brain. They did some extra blood work to measure the amt. of anti-seizure meds in his system, and we may make some adjustments. Dr. Anderson put him on a muscle spasm med and increased the decadron for swelling in the brain. It was crazy, and I told Dr. Golightly that it was no wonder my blood pressure has been acting up.

So back to Tye...his ears, throat and chest were clear, just gunky stuff in his nose. He flirted a little with the nurses and sang some songs, and I could tell he was feeling better than when he came home from school. The doctor told me it was a virus and to give Triaminic and Advil or Tylenol to control the fever. Tye was running a 99 temp when we were there. We left after Brian's bloodwork and ran to the store for the Triaminic and Brian's new script. We got home around 4:15 since everything takes us forever to do anything anymore. I could tell he wasn't feeling good again, and he felt warm. I gave him the Triaminic (Brian was still in the van) and Tye threw it right back up. I changed his clothes real quick, and tucked him in on the couch to watch Backyardigans. I was thinking it was about time for some Tylenol maybe, and I decided to run down and get Brian into the house first. Tye was sleepy.

So that process took about 8-10 min. We came in through the garage and Brian sat down at the bottom of the steps to rest. About that time, my dad showed up after work, and he was going to help me get Brian upstairs. We were standing there talking and we heard what sounded like Tye gagging or something. I yelled that he was probably throwing up. My dad was at the landing, so he reached the top of the steps first and yelled that he wasn't throwing up...when I got up there, he was seizing in the couch. I am unsure how long he was doing this, and I feel so bad about that. I dragged him onto the floor and told my dad to call 911.

It was by far the most terrifying moment of my life. Everything flashed back to me about the night my mom died, and I thought of the sheer panic my dad was probably in when he woke to find her, and I just lost it. I was just freaking out, and I am so glad my dad was here. I had him get a cold cloth, and after about 2 or 2 1/2 minutes, he stopped. It felt like forever. At first, I thought he wasn't breathing. He was kind of blue, but I figure that was from gasping for air. The operator told me to keep him awake if I could, and the cold cloth helped with that. His eyes were glassy and he kept rolling his eyes up. I was in a complete panic. TJ showed up and patted Tye and talked to him because I was crying so hard and just freaking out. I could feel a strong pulse, and my mind knew that his temp was high, and this was probably what was wrong; nonetheless, it was awful.

And poor Brian was still sitting at the bottom of the steps just going ballistic because he couldn't move and could only listen to what was happening.

The ambulance arrived quickly and the guys said right away that he was breathing good and had a strong heartbeat. Tye was so pale and was gritting his teeth and had his hands drawn up at his chest. They carried him out and we got in the ambulance...his oxygen was 100% and all of his vitals were great. His temp was 102.2, but we had put the cold cloth on for several minutes, which probably helped. They said that one person's high temp might be 105 or 104, and others can have the same symptoms at 103 or 102. He went in and out of consciousness all the way to the hospital and woke up scared as we were getting there. They were great with him, and were great to comfort me because I could not stop crying. Erin and Karis came to stay with me and Dad stayed here with Brian. Brian said it was the longest 30 minutes of his life.

They are sure it was a fibral seizure caused by his sudden change in body temp. It looks like the Motrin had worked and dropped his temp, then when it wore off, his temp just spiked back up suddenly. I normally rotate Motrin/Tylenol, I just hadn't had the chance to yet with taking care of Brian. It all happened so fast. They gave him Motrin at the hospital, and he's had a dose of Tylenol about an hour ago. They evaluated him and decided to run some blood tests just to verify what they thought. The tests came back that nothing was out of whack except that he definitely has a virus. They said there was no way to know that he would seize...I guess it happens in 1 of 10 kids, especially this age. They said there is no reason to think he'll have one again, but to just be very careful with any other fevers.

We were home by a little before 7, and now I have a blazing headache. Brian was a mess, and he seems to be better now. It scared us to death. I just started praying over Tye and asking God to help him and then I prayed a Hail Mary. My whole life flashed before me, and I thought...surely God won't take him from me. I knew the whole fever deal, I just felt so scared that none of that mattered. It was very scary to be there without Brian.

Tye is back to acting himself, and is giggling at the Barnyard movie again.

I asked if they thought I was crazy to go to Chicago tomorrow. They told me it would be rare for Tye to have any other problems, especially with this illness because he'll be on Motrin/Tylenol around the clock for a few days. I really need to go with Brian. They told me the worst part will be just that Brian and I don't want to leave him and that it might stress Denise out! (I had called her this afternoon to come in the morning with Todd; then Brian called her when we left in the ambulance, and she arrived shortly after we got home)...so I guess we'll go and I'll have to say a lot of prayers for sanity...I could use the extra prayers if you want to send them our way.

Thanks for listening and letting me unload all of that. Life goes on with cancer, even when it feels like it doesn't. I'll check back in after we return from Chicago.

Many blessings and prayers to you for an ordinary, wonderful weekend,
Jenni