Holy smoke! y'all talk me down!

[minkydog]

Christian just had a really bad seizure. You know, I have seen literally hundreds of kids have seizures (I'm a peds nurse) and I still get rattled when I see Christian have one. He's 14 now, very mentally handicapped, been having seizures for a long time. Usually they are fairly gentle, though they last a long time, 3-5 min.

Not this time. DH went up to get him ready for supper and when he touched Christian, he went completely rigid. This is very unusual for Christian. Usually he sits up and "crouches"& grunts, over and over. He comes out of it and is right back to normal. This time he seized from head to toe. DH didn't know what he was seeing--he thought Christian was just being silly, playing with him. Anyway, he called me upstairs to look at him. By the time I got there Christian's face was blue, pale lips, and choking, in a full-blown grand mal seizure. I quickly rolled him to his side and about a 1/2 cup of saliva rolled out of his mouth. He immediately turned pink and started breathing better, although the seizure continued for another 3 minutes. After it was over, Christian was limp as a rag. He was very disoriented and weak( post-ictal), and he slept for about 40 min Heck I'm a little weak myself!) He's awake now, but very drowsy and "out of it." I haven't got the nerve to feed him yet. He seems to know us now, but he's not interested in playing.

Ye gods! I don't think my heart-rate has gotten back to normal yet. I don't know if I'm gonna even sleep tonight!

 

[babytrees]

oh gosh!! That sounds very scary. No matter how many times we've seen something, when we see it in our kids it scares the bejeebers out of us.


I am betting Christian will be raring to go by the morning!!

 

[minkydog]

You know, all I could think of was Jett Travolta

 

[SaraJayne]

I'd have him at the doctor instead of posting about it on an internet message board.

Since it's out of the norm for him to have such a strong seizure, he should be seen immediately.

 

[lemondog]

I can only imagine how scared you were! No matter how used to it you are, grand mal seizures can be very scary. I worked with a woman for 6 years, and she suffered about 3 grand mal seizures a week. Her office was right across the hall from mine so I was usually the first to hear her and be on the scene. It always freaked me out, even though I had to have seen her have hundreds of them. It's amazing that someone can come "back" from something like that. It's also amazing how physically strong someone in a grand mal seizure can be. It took every single ounce of my strength to try and keep her away from the furniture, all the while screaming for help. It usually took 2-3 guys to come in and hold her so she wouldn't hurt herself.

 

[DVCLiz]

I'd have him at the doctor instead of posting about it on an internet message board.

Since it's out of the norm for him to have such a strong seizure, he should be seen immediately.

I'm curious to know your medical background, SaraJayne, since you seem so comfortable giving medical advice on an internet message board. Are you a peds nurse, too, like Minkydog is?

 

[XYSRUS]

When it hits so close to home it can throw you for a loop. here's hoping the best for him.

 

[minkydog]

I'd have him at the doctor instead of posting about it on an internet message board.

Since it's out of the norm for him to have such a strong seizure, he should be seen immediately.

Well, certainly if he has another seizure tonight we'll be going via ambulance. I have emergency drugs here at the house for just such an occasion. We recently changed one of his *3* meds and I suspect we will have to change it back. It's a real balancing act--you give as much medication as you can to limit the seizures and NOT give him bad side effects. Christian takes 15 pills a day. They control the seizures pretty well, keep them to a minimum. But the side effects. Gah! He drools like a swamp monster, he falls down stairs, he falls in the yard, he pulls me off MY feet when we walk because he's so off-balance. Anyway, thanks for the response. If nothing else bad happens I'll call his neurologist in the morning. If things get worse, I'll call 911.

 

[Rose&Mike]

to you Minkydog. Hope you have a quiet night.

 

[Disney Doll]

Sounds like you have it under control minky, despite what Sara Jayne thinks.

Seizures are so...puzzling...since you never know when the "pattern" is going to change. Something as simple as a food or a hormone surge (and what 14 year old ISN'T having a hormone surge????) can really upset the apple cart.

to you and Christian...I'll say a little prayer for you guys for a quiet night and a good MD visit tomorrow.

 

[DVCLiz]

Oh, I forgot to send you my best wishes!!!

 

[Sparx]

 

[doxdogy]

Sounds like you have it all under control. Changing seizure meds is definitely a delicate balance. The couple of times mine were changed, I was out of it for a couple of weeks.

 

[binny]

oh my gosh how scary for all of you!

Im glad he is better now will keep you all in my prayers.

 

[Scornelius]

OOh, poor guy. And poor mom and dad! I really hope you have a calm night and get things sorted out.

 

[momof1princess]

you poor thing! i pray that christian has a restful, seizure-free night, and that you are able to rest as well. he is so lucky to have you even as panicked as you were, you knew exactly how to help him.

 

[Patricia]

Thinking about you and your son!

 

[Minniemama350]

Since it's out of the norm for him to have such a strong seizure, he should be seen immediately.[/QUOTE]

I agree. I used to work with seizure kids and anything out of the ordinary should be evaluated. At least call the Dr? I'm not picking, I know sometimes it is hard to think it through because you are scared, but if this is remarkably different the DR. needs to know ASAP.

 

[minkydog]

Well, so far no more seizures. He's just kinda woozy. I did get him to walk downstairs to get something to eat. He didn't really want much, kept trying to put his head down, but I got all his meds into him(10 pills, poor kid. He must be rattling!) He ate up some yogurt and sat with me while we watched a little TV. Then he took me by the hand and wanted to go back to bed. So other than being kinda tired, he seems to be getting back to his normal self. I've seen kids do this before, have a 3-4 hour long post-ictal phase and be all loopy(and of course, it's right at Christian's bedtime so some of it is just normal sleepiness). I'll keep checking on him. Hopefully we're out of the woods now.

 

[Minniemama350]

Glad things seem better.