Thursday, September 24, 2009

scary target

remember how ryan doesn't like going to target? and that he cries and cries when we go by the scaries, or in other words, halloween stuff? well that little bugger is so smart that he figured out a way to avoid it—have a seizure.

last night after i dropped samantha and her friend off at church for awana, i decided to head over to target to grab a couple non-essential items. ryan and i got as far as the greeting cards. i was looking through the cards for a couple minutes and finally successfully picked one out.

*side note: i should SO make greeting cards. i'm sure i could come up with some better stuff than what was there. and even if i couldn't come up with anything, did you know that there was a blank cheap looking card there for over $3?! ridiculous...

anyway, i picked out the card, turned around to put it in the cart and ryan was seizing. his back was arched, his head was tilted way back with his eyes rolled back, and his arms were twitching. i grabbed my phone to check the time, tried to snap him out of it, then decided to jet outta there.
there was some humor to this, too, because i had to decide if i'd push him out in the cart or just grab him and run. i didn't want to carry my suitcase of a purse, and i had a mcdonalds bag in the cart too. so i ditched the card that i was intending to purchase and headed for the doors. but when i got to the door i realized that the envelope was still in there. i was looking around trying to figure out what to do with it and where to put it, and i finally just put it in another cart that was by the door. looking back i should've just shoplifted the envelope and then bought the card today.

anyway, i pushed him in the cart out to the car, called ben (who, thank God, reminded me that children's mercy urgent care was about 5 blocks away), and drove over there all the while watching ryan in the rear view mirror to make sure he was doing all right and to see if he was still seizing. by the time i got there, his seizure had stopped (it lasted about 2.5 minutes) and he had thrown up on himself. i ran into the clinic and they brought him back to a room right away because, as i later found out, the nurse said he was a little blue when i brought him in.


i laid him on the bed and as they took all his vitals (his temp was 99.5—they said this was not a febrile seizure like we suspected his first one to be.) he started responding to me a little bit. i was telling the nurse who was triaging him about his history and his recent MRI, and then i stopped mid-sentence. ryan started shaking, like he was shivering all over, and he wouldn't respond to me or make eye contact anymore. they called the doctor in. that seizure lasted a minute. he came back fairly quick after that seizure and from then on he was fine the rest of the night.


the doctor that was there called the neurologist that was on call that night. he prescribed keppra, and antiepileptic drug, for ryan to start on (if a person has 2 non-febrile seizures, they're pretty much considered epileptic). we also got a drug called diastat to carry with us, which will stop longer seizures FAST if needed.


we were discharged about an hour and a half after we had gotten there and man was ryan happy to go home! after i put him to bed i was all out of sorts. i was confused at what i should do with his meds, overwhelmed by all the "stuff" i needed to educate myself on, overloaded with questions in my head, tired, and totally chocolate deficient. thankfully i was able to go to bed with my mind at ease a little bit. i feel so incredibly blessed by my two friends (who have epileptic children of their own) who were able to encourage me and answer some of my questions. thank you nicole and cheryl!

this morning i took ryan to his first therapy session, which went great! i am going to save that for another post though. you're welcome. and then we went back to the scene of the crime so i could get that card that i picked out at target last night. and as nerve-wracking as that was, you have to get right back on the horse after you fall off, right?! thankfully, ryan didn't have any seizures, and he didn't even cry when we walked by the scaries!

this afternoon i was busy on the phone talking with dr. h, ryan's neurologist at children's mercy hospital here in kansas city and lynn, dr. h's nurse. i got a LOT of information and some questions answered. dr. h told me that she wasn't surprised to hear that ryan had more seizures. she said that with the findings on his MRI, you would expect seizures and she was actually surprised that he had only had one before. we will start ryan on his medication to hopefully prevent him from having any more seizures right now, and we have an EEG tentatively scheduled for late november, although lynn said that it will most likely be bumped up to october or early november.

after all my phone calls today my mouth hurt from talking (not the first time that has happened! haha!) and my head hurt from listening. i had an i-need-to-cry headache. i took a spoon and ate a couple bites right out of the chocolate french silk ice cream carton. i gave samantha a crash course in what to do in case of a seizure. and i cried. samantha asked me what was wrong and i told her i was sad about ryan. and the wise 6-year-old that she is answered me with "mom, he'll be fine. he was fine the first time he had a seizure. and besides, we'll all be healed someday. from Jesus." ohhh, what a blessing she is!

thank you all for your prayers and concerns and encouragement that you offered last night—it means so much to all of us! and also, if you made it to the end of this post, congratulations! i will try not to be as talkative (or would that be typative?) next time!

15 comments:

Kelly Harris said...

SO glad everything has settled down now some, Erin. wow. scary stuff. Thank goodness for children's mercy urgent care being SO close to target!! you are so right about samantha- what a sweet, wise girl she is. she's right- he will be okay. praying for you to be able to trust in that (I know it isn't easy).

Ace said...

I kind of fell off the twitter wagon so I missed all of that! Glad that he is okay. And Samantha's reply totally made me sit here and cry.

Heather said...

Yep, sitting here crying too. Samantha is wise beyond her years. Gotta love her!

Glad the therapy session went well today. (I loved the ABC story you told me) You're one smart cookie, Ryry!

Sleep well tonight and praying for sweet dreams for you.

Ashley @ {Let Go, Laughing} said...

glad to hear things have calmed down a bit for you and glad to hear you braved target again :)

samantha is wise beyond her years! she is so sweet!

Keri McGinnis said...

Oh Erin, I'm so sorry to hear you about your roller-coaster of an evening yesterday! Isn't it so awesome that the Lord has put two awesome women in your life that you can talk to about seizures!

Jess(ica) said...

How scary! I am glad things seem to be alright now and hopefully that medication will be a big help!

Mary @ Giving Up On Perfect said...

Erin, you can be as typative as you want to! That is so scary!!! I'm so thankful that Ryan is okay - and what a blessing that you were so close to CM Urgent Care! Oh, my. You have a lot going on right now. I will DEFINITELY pray for you and Ryan (and Ben and Samantha)!!!

debbie clark said...

Wow Erin, how scary. I hadn't heard about Ryan's first seizure. Im sure Samantha's words were a great comfort to you. Out of the mouths of babes...

Tiffany Lockette said...

I can't imagine what you are going through and how scared you are. I hope you find out all of the answers you need to be knowledgeable on how to deal with the seizures and I hope the medications help Ryan with the seizures. I am praying for you guys.

Sonya said...

OMG Erin that must have been so scary. I am glad that everything turned out ok but man you must have been terrified. Good thing you were so close to Children's Mercy. Samantha is one very smart little girl!

Furry Bottoms said...

what.a.day.you.had.!.! I don't know if this would be of any comfort to you... but... I am living proof that you can outgrow epilepsy. He will be OK. He might need monitoring and medication, but once thats all set up, he will be OK. God will make sure of that!

Laura Marchant said...

How scary! I am so glad things have calmed down now. I would have freaked out.

JennyMac said...

Wow...talk about "scaries"..glad your little man is ok.

Hillary @ The Other Mama said...

Oh my goodness. That is so scary. I'm so glad you were able to get immediate medical attention and SO very thankful he is okay. And what a precious little Samantha you have to remind you of the Great Physician! WOW!
We will be praying for y'all to find the right medication, doctors and information you need!

Sara @ Domestically Challenged said...

So so scary! I am so glad it turned out okay and that you handled it so well. Nice job Mom!