Austin

As some of you know from Facebook, Austin, our 5 year old, had some sort of seizure activity last night. Here's what happened and what we know now...

Austin and his friend were wanting to do a sleepover and last night was the night. All the kids in the neighborhood were outside playing for a while after dinner, so after a quick bath at home, Brian walked him down the street for the night. Our two families have quickly become good friends, so we went on with our night knowing he was in good hands. We are so thankful for this family!

Brian and I watched some TV and then was about to go to bed for the night when we got the call. It was 11pm, so I figured it was just something that Austin just had to have to go to sleep or some other kid-thing like that! Brian answered the phone and I knew from his voice that something wasn't right. He said Austin was having a seizure and told me to stay here as he was running out the door and down the street. After what seemed like a lifetime (which was probably only 10 minutes or so), our friend, Jen, came to stay at the house for Colten so I could run down there and check things out for myself.

What we have been told is that the kids watched a movie and then it was time for bed. They had been in bed for about 30 minutes or so when their 13 year old daughter heard noises coming from the bedroom. After a minute or so, she went to see if they were still up and playing and saw that it was Austin and that he wasn't acting right. She told her parents and Jen came up and started to roll him over so she could see what was happening. When she saw that his right side was twitching and he was drooling/foaming at the mouth and the right side of his face was scrunched up, she knew he was probably seizing and put him back on his side for safety. At some point, John, the dad, also came up and we were called. 911 was called as well (when Brian got there) and the paramedics were there when I got there. His temp was taken to rule out febrile seizure and it was normal.

Brian said that when he got there, he could tell Austin wasn't right. He did see some recognition in his eyes, but Austin couldn't tell him who he was or anything. At some point, he reached up to Brian's face and also reached up to the right side of his own mouth like he was confused as to why he couldn't talk. A couple of minutes later he was able to tell them who Daddy was and what his name was and how old he was. He was really out of it and very groggy. When I got there, he was still like this, but knew who I was and was answering some questions. The ambulance took him and Brian to the hospital on post while I got things together for Jen to stay at the house while we were gone.

The ER visit was long and it took 3 hours or so to get the lab results back. Austin was allowed to sleep most of the time, but needed to wake up for the doctor to exam him a bit. The doctor wasn't all that great...we'll just leave it at that. I had already told Brian that they probably wouldn't do much more than blood work they sent to the lab and that's exactly what happened. All lab work came back normal, so they discharged us with instructions on what to look for in another seizure and things to limit until cleared by a doctor. We were to follow up with his primary care doctor today.

This morning, I woke up with Colten and called the appointment line. Got an appointment for 2pm, and researched on the internet until I had to leave for my OB appointment. When I got home, Austin was up and playing like normal. We have told him a kid-friendly version of what happened.

His doctor appointment went pretty well. We were prepared to fight for Austin to get tested more and didn't even need to get worked up. The doctor was all about getting him evaulated more and called a pediatric neurologist off post to see what needed to be done, etc. We now have a referral for that pediatric neurologist and are just waiting for the referral to go through to call for an appointment. Hopefully, we don't have to wait too long.

Until he's seen by the neurologist, Austin is not allowed to ride his bike or skateboard or things like that. He's pretty bummed about that, but overall, he's doing great. Playing like normal and eating like normal.

It's probably safe to say that Brian and I are a little freaked out, but know that there's a good chance that this could be his only episode. I know there's also a chance that we'll never know what caused it, which is hard to accept as a parent. How can you prevent another one if you don't know what caused it in the first place?

All I know is that it's going to take me a while before I am comfortable with not having a baby monitor in my kids' rooms. I know that if it had happened at our house and we didn't have a monitor (we do since Colten shares a room with Austin, but let's just say for a minute that we didn't have one), we probably wouldn't have ever known about it. Our room is on the opposite side of the house and Austin insists on sleeping with the bedroom door closed. I don't think we would have heard the noises (probably gagging) he was making and would have slept through the entire thing.

We are so thankful for our friends, Jen and John, and their daughter who did exactly what she was supposed to do. It's also great to have Matt and Paula nearby again as they were begging us to do something and got to stay with Colten today during the doctor appointment. :-)

We will update as we know more, but that probably won't be until we see the neurologist. Until then, we thank you for your prayers and concerns. They mean so much to Brian and I!