On August 11th, 2009 I was picking up the kids from The Hall's where they sometimes go for an hour or so during the week. Everything seems normal as usual. The kids are happy to see me and Matthew is running around joyfully. We start heading to the car and Emma races down the stairs. Matthew is taking his time on the steps as usual but then all of a sudden he stops. I turn to see what the hold up is and he is kind of in a daze. I ask him if he wants me to carry him down the stairs but I get no response. So I just pick him up and that is where it all began.
All of a sudden he vomits on my shoulder. I put him down and he gags and does it again. I kneel down and try to talk to him but he is just gagging. Then I realize he is very pale and does not look like he is breathing. I see that his lips are turning blue so I run upstairs and take him inside. In the house, Cheryl confirms my fears that something is terribly wrong and calls 911 immediately. I lay Matthew down on his side in case he throws up again and I start talking to the 911 operator. Cheryl has Emma sent to another room to play with her daughter Macy so that she is not involved in what is going on. By this time Matthew is starting to breathe but they are very light very shallow breaths. His eyes seem to roll back every once in a while as he is trying to catch his breath. Somehow I've managed not to freak out completely and am trying to soothe Matthew who is slowing getting back to his normal self. I've done a great job of staying calm until I continue talking to the 911 operator. I know that they are supposed to ask you the same questions several different times and different ways to make sure they have all the facts straight, but after the 5th time she asks me "Is he breathing?" the tears start rolling down my cheeks. Within minutes there are paramedics, police officers and firemen in Cheryl's living room. Matthew is still lying on the floor. He is breathing normal but he isn't getting up and he keeps blinking long and hard. Finally, after the policeman tries to ask Matthew questions he gets up and clings to me. Then it’s like nothing ever happened. He is responsive and breathing just fine. Just to be sure all is well we take a ride in the ambulance to the ER to get checked out.
Matthew is breathing 100% now and uses his full lung capacity to scream and cry the whole way to the hospital because he doesn't want to be buckled into his seat. He gets his vitals checked and gets yet another catscan to add to his collection. We hang out at the hospital for a few more hours to find his catscan is normal but his neurologist wants him back on his seizure medication. This is news that I am not thrilled about but as I see Matthew running around the ER with a big smile on his face I know that I need to focus on the silver lining. So much worse could have happened that day. What if he had his episode while I was driving or before I had arrived? What if it was more severe and he had gotten hurt? We were blessed that everyone responded so quickly and that in the end he was safe and we were going home.
Today he had an appointment with the neurologist. He met with Kathie Teta at Child Neurology Associates near Scottish Right. We are told that the best thing would be to keep Matthew on medication until he is seizure free for 2 years. I know this is what the initial plan was supposed to be. But his previous doctor felt that since his progress had been so good and his EEGs showed only some spikes and no full blown seizures that we could try him off the meds. It breaks my heart to know he will be on this medicine for the next two years, but once again.....the silver lining. It is only twice a day. It is only for two years. It will help prevent/control any future seizures. It could be so much worse.
So next week he will have another EEG and then after that another MRI to make sure nothing else is going on that the doctors need to know. I have been trying hard to focus on the silver lining of these gloomy clouds. It’s difficult to do but it's a lot easier when I see Matthew's big smile!
All of a sudden he vomits on my shoulder. I put him down and he gags and does it again. I kneel down and try to talk to him but he is just gagging. Then I realize he is very pale and does not look like he is breathing. I see that his lips are turning blue so I run upstairs and take him inside. In the house, Cheryl confirms my fears that something is terribly wrong and calls 911 immediately. I lay Matthew down on his side in case he throws up again and I start talking to the 911 operator. Cheryl has Emma sent to another room to play with her daughter Macy so that she is not involved in what is going on. By this time Matthew is starting to breathe but they are very light very shallow breaths. His eyes seem to roll back every once in a while as he is trying to catch his breath. Somehow I've managed not to freak out completely and am trying to soothe Matthew who is slowing getting back to his normal self. I've done a great job of staying calm until I continue talking to the 911 operator. I know that they are supposed to ask you the same questions several different times and different ways to make sure they have all the facts straight, but after the 5th time she asks me "Is he breathing?" the tears start rolling down my cheeks. Within minutes there are paramedics, police officers and firemen in Cheryl's living room. Matthew is still lying on the floor. He is breathing normal but he isn't getting up and he keeps blinking long and hard. Finally, after the policeman tries to ask Matthew questions he gets up and clings to me. Then it’s like nothing ever happened. He is responsive and breathing just fine. Just to be sure all is well we take a ride in the ambulance to the ER to get checked out.
Matthew is breathing 100% now and uses his full lung capacity to scream and cry the whole way to the hospital because he doesn't want to be buckled into his seat. He gets his vitals checked and gets yet another catscan to add to his collection. We hang out at the hospital for a few more hours to find his catscan is normal but his neurologist wants him back on his seizure medication. This is news that I am not thrilled about but as I see Matthew running around the ER with a big smile on his face I know that I need to focus on the silver lining. So much worse could have happened that day. What if he had his episode while I was driving or before I had arrived? What if it was more severe and he had gotten hurt? We were blessed that everyone responded so quickly and that in the end he was safe and we were going home.
Today he had an appointment with the neurologist. He met with Kathie Teta at Child Neurology Associates near Scottish Right. We are told that the best thing would be to keep Matthew on medication until he is seizure free for 2 years. I know this is what the initial plan was supposed to be. But his previous doctor felt that since his progress had been so good and his EEGs showed only some spikes and no full blown seizures that we could try him off the meds. It breaks my heart to know he will be on this medicine for the next two years, but once again.....the silver lining. It is only twice a day. It is only for two years. It will help prevent/control any future seizures. It could be so much worse.
So next week he will have another EEG and then after that another MRI to make sure nothing else is going on that the doctors need to know. I have been trying hard to focus on the silver lining of these gloomy clouds. It’s difficult to do but it's a lot easier when I see Matthew's big smile!
Matthew in the Child Neurology waiting room.
Oh Christy! What a scare! I'm SO glad that Matthew is ok! Let me know if there's anything we can do for your family. We'll keep you all (and especially Matthew) in our prayers for sure!
ReplyDeleteYou guys are incredible!!!!!!!!!! Mathew is so blessed God chose you as his Mom and returned you are blessed God made Mathew your son. My heart broke reading your blog today and I promise you Mathew will be in our prayers. We love your family very much and miss seeing you guys
ReplyDelete