What I learned at the ER that I wish I'd known ..OR..1 less reason for a mom to freak

[Barb D]

Long story short -- 13yo DS cut his knee last night. He then sat on the seat of the minivan with his leg hanging out, while I squatted outside dabbing at his knee and wondering aloud whether he needed stitches. Suddenly he fell backward (into the minivan) and started jerking around, his eyes rolled back in his head, and he slid off the seat onto the floor. It took me a few moments of shaking him before he came to, totally disoriented. He was white as a ghost, and his face felt like ice.

Fast forward to the ER. It turns out that some kids do have seizures just at the sight of their own blood. So a seizure does NOT necessarily mean that something is REALLY wrong. It definitely is something that needs to be checked out ASAP, but it doesn't necessarily mean your child is gravely ill. I wish I'd known this before; it would have saved me some serious panicking!

DS is fine, BTW. He didn't need any stitches, but he did miss his swim meet this morning.

 

[AZKathy]

Thank goodness he is alright! I would have done the same thing! <a href='http://www.smileycentral.com/?partner=ZSzeb008' target='_blank'><img src='http://smileys.smileycentral.com/cat/10/10_3_1v.gif' border=0></a>

 

[Dizzy-Disney4]

Wow how scary for you. Our son had a seizure about 5 years ago for no reason what so ever. Never had another and there was no explanation for it. Neurologist said...It just happens sometimes and probably wont ever happen again. Scared me to death though.

 

[HappyMommy2]

Oh my goodness, I think I would have almost had a seizure myself if that happened to my son! (Though of course I wouldn't have, really--somehow we moms know how to pull it together even when we're panicking about our kids, don't we?) You must have been so terrified. Thanks for letting us know about this, though. And I am so glad your poor DS is just fine!

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Buzz has had a couple seizures, and passes out easily (not an actual seizure, but his eyes roll back and there's seizure-like activity). it's extremely scary, but the neurologist says he'll just outgrow it. Last time it happened was last Oct.--it even happened at my sister's wedding a few years ago!

You're right that it's not "medically significant", but that doesn't make it any less scary. The first actual seizure Buzz had, he was ~14 months, and seized in my arms. Dh and I were EMT instructors at the time. DH yelled, "Start CPR!" while he ran for the phone, and I just totally froze up. Scary as the seizure was, what hit me like a ton of bricks was when it stopped...and my baby lay there, motionless and blue, and it was just SO WRONG. I couldn't move. Fortunately, as I said, there's nothing really wrong, and if you saw Buzz on the soccer field, you'd never pick him out of a lineup as having a problem (he's now 7). But I can really feel your pain!

 

[two4ruff]

How scary!

My DS fainted 3 times on the way to the ER with a finger cut that only required 2 stiches. Nothing tougher than a hockey player that faints at the sight of his own blood!

 

[janette]

It's very scary, my oldest DD passed out and had a seizure at daycare when she was 11mths. It was at my work so they called and I was there before she had started to come around. They called an ambulance and by the time we got to the ER she was fine. They ran some tests but worked out that it was because she held her breath when she got mad, passed out and had a seizure. She did pass out a few more times and had another seizure but grew out of it befoer she was 2yo. I was very glad!

 

[Stepharoonie!]