Jamie,
I am so sorry y'all are going through this. Cody has been dealing with
seizures since age 7. It is a horrifying thing to see and not be able to
do
anything about. One of the reasons I have not been posting a lot on any
of
the boards is that things have been really in high gear with him lately.
Anyway, be aware that the Depakote can have some pretty big side effects.
Cody was eventually unable to tie his shoes due to tremors.
If you have any questions about the seizures, meds, treatments, etc,
please
email me!
Holly
--
Holly F. Sox, RN, RAC-C
Clinical Services Manager
Robin Technologies
holly@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
www.careplans.com
"Jamie Clark" <jamielee6@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote in message
news:EMOdnfjQ0ekv43feRVn-gQ@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> All,
> Well, yesterday sucked. Taylor had a seizure around 7:30am. Luckily
she
> was laying in my bed, in my arms when it happened. Addie was in her
crib.
> Scared the crap out of me. It lasted about 10-15 seconds, then
afterwards
> she was out of it and basically catatonic. I waited until the main part
of
> the seizure was over, then ran downstairs to grab a phone to call 911.
> While talking to them, I raced back upstairs to make sure she was
breathing
> (she was). By the time the paramedics arrived (2 ambulances and a fire
> truck, 10 people total), she was in a deep sleep. They tried to wake
her
up
> and poked and prodded her, and she was really out of it -- didn't seem
to
> notice or mind that there were 10 strangers crowded around her, taking
her
> clothes off, putting nodes on her to monitor her heartbeat, etc, which
is
> really out of the ordinary.
>
> They took her to the local hospital ER while Addie and I followed
behind.
I
> called Rob who was at work and over an hour (ended up being almost 2
hours
> away), and then called my dad & step mom (Dottie) who drove down (1.5
hour
> drive). Meanwhile, I sat in the ER with Addie on one hip, cradling
Taylor
> as best I could on the other side, and all of us crowded on to the
hospital
> bed/gurney. It was really hard. Taylor finally started to come around,
> then was really upset and didn't want anyone to touch her. Of course,
they
> needed to poke and prod her, put in an IV, take rectal temps, look into
her
> ears, blood pressure cuff, listen to her heart, etc, and she was
screaming
> and yelling the whole time.
>
> Then around 9am she had another seizure, and of course, there was no one
> around at all, and it seemed like no one came forever. Once they got
there,
> they hooked her up to various machines, they gave her oxygen and some
Ativan
> which put her out, they did a urine catheter, they did a CAT scan, etc.
My
> dad and Dottie finally arrived and took Addie, and Rob arrived a bit
later.
>
> Around 12ish they were talking about moving her to a different hospital,
as
> this one didn't really do pediatrics, so we were loading her up onto the
> gurney into her carseat, and she had another seizure. The paramedics
stood
> there with their thumbs up their noses, so I whipped her out of her
carseat
> and got her back onto the bed, and then finally a nurse came over to
give
> her oxygen and another dose of Ativan, and again, she was knocked out
for
a
> long time. They then decided to transfer her over to Children's
Hospital
in
> Oakland, but it took until 3pm until we were in the ambulance and on the
> road. Once we got to Children's, she perked up a tiny bit, but was
still
> incredibly weak, lethargic, and basically drugged. They gave her a dose
of
> Depakote and told us we could take her home around 7pm. They gave us a
> prescription for maintenance Depakote, and told us to follow up with our
> pediatrician, as well as contact the neurologist for an appointment. We
> were home by 8. My dad and step-mom spent the night, just in case
anything
> else happened.
>
> She slept at the foot of our bed, and both dh and I expected to see much
> improvement today, but when she first woke up this morning she was still
so
> weak and lethargic. She talks, but her words are slurred and she still
> feels terrible and gets really upset and cries at almost anything. She
> couldn't stand up by herself or walk. She threw up the first thing she
> drank this morning as well. We called her pediatrician to have her seen
and
> based on what we told them, they said we should take her back to
Children's.
> My D&D had already left, so I called them back and asked him to take
Addie
> for a day or 3, depending on how things went. By the time that they
came
> back and we got all of Addie's stuff together, Taylor had actually
crawled
> across the floor on her own to get more Gatorade, then a few minutes
later,
> walked very slowly and crookedly to the office to tell Dada something.
So,
> we called the ped back and asked to go there first, and perhaps skip the
> hospital all together.
>
> The pediatrician was great. It wasn't our regular guy, but one of his
> officemates. She was really good, and thorough, and checked a few other
> possibilities, including having us send a stool sample for Salmonella
and
> something else, both of which can cause diarrhea and seizures. It's
> probably not that, but it feels good to have it checked. She also told
us
> that based on everything that Taylor has been through, plus all the
drugs,
> she's doing just as she would expect. So, she's having us come back on
> Friday to check her progress, as well as in a week to check the levels
of
> Depakote.
>
> We stopped at Burger King on the way home, because Taylor has been
begging/
> obsessing about eating chicken nuggets, even in the moments after
throwing
> up this morning. Since she'd gone on to eat some applesauce okay, as
well
> as two chicken nuggets at home without problems, we figured it was okay.
> Wrong. She ate a few French fries on the way home in the car, and then
> promptly threw up all over the floor in the family room. Although we
just
> had it cleaned yesterday while we were at the hospital (already been
> scheduled, and since D&D were here with Addie, we figured we might as
well
> go ahead with it), we had laid out a blanket to have a picnic, and
luckily,
> she threw up on the blanket. (phew!). Anyway, we gave her the next
dose
of
> Depokote, and put her to bed. She slept for a couple of hours, and is
now
> up, begging for more chicken nuggets, which I'm giving her in small
> quantities. Which she just threw up again. Oy. Okay, no more solids
for
> her. Blech. It's hard, because she doesn't identify the solid food as
the
> reason for throwing up, no matter what I tell her, and just keep begging
for
> food. And since she is so sick and otherwise miserable, it's hard to
not
> give her something to make her feel better, but I know it will only make
her
> throw up and feel worse.
>
> Anyway, D&D are going to keep Addie overnight, and we'll see about
getting
> her back tomorrow. My Mom & Step-dad (Steve, so M&S) were going to
come
up
> Friday for a prescheduled weekend visit, but are now going to fly up
> tomorrow afternoon instead, so that will be nice to have the extra help.
>
> Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers. It's been a really scary
time.
> --
>
> Jamie
> Earth Angels:
> Taylor Marlys, 1/3/03 -- Who's got the Christmas spirit, singing all day
> long, "You put one foot in front of the other, and soon you'll be
walking
> out the doooo-oooo-ooor!
> Addison Grace, 9/30/04 -- My Little Ham, who smiles so big her eyes
> disappear and she says, "Cheese" on command. Although it sounds more
like
> "eeeeeesssshhh"!
>
> Check out the family! -- www.MyFamily.com, User ID: Clarkguest1,
Password:
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