I'm resurrecting the blog after four months for two reasons:
1) To educate other parents of something I knew nothing about until last weekend.
2) To give myself closure to the worst day of my life.
I'll start off saying everyone in my family is healthy and okay. I don't want to scare anyone. I just feel writing this all down will help me process the emotions of that day and work though what I'm still feeling now.
Last Saturday was pretty typical. One of my girlfriends was coming over for dinner with her family that night and I'd spent the day before cleaning the house. Avery and I headed off the Y for swim lessons while Chad stayed home with Chase.
After a quick trip to Target for swim diapers, we made it to the Y just in time. I took her coat and clothes off in the locker room to put on her swim suit, and I noticed a small shiver. I asked if she was cold and she just looked at me and smiled. We walked out to the pool together and she was her normal, happy self. Avery isn't afraid of the water, but she doesn't love it. So I didn't think too much of her not wanting to participate in the group activities and instead preferred for me to hold her and bounce up and down in the water.
About 15 minutes into the lessons, Avery collapsed in my arms. I immediately yelled for the lifeguard and when I got out of the pool I noticed she wasn't conscious. I ran into the lobby screaming for help and for someone to call 911. By the grace of God, there just happened to be an ER nurse having coffee in the lobby who ran over, grabbed Avery and laid her down on the couch cushion. After that it's all kind of a blur. Two doctors suddenly appeared. I'm not sure what kind of doctors, if they were there working out, or what. The nurse gave Avery mouth to mouth and someone brought over oxygen. A man I'd never seen before was holding me telling me it was going to be okay while I was screaming for them to help her. I was borderline hysterical.
The lobby swarmed with people and employees were yelling for everyone to clear the lobby. A woman asked what I needed and I gave her Chad's number. There were two old coworkers of mine there. One called Chad's parents and asked them to rush to our house to stay with Chase while the other collected my things from the pool and locker. Somehow I was able to remember the locker number and combo.
One of the men helping Avery (maybe one of the docs) was the first to say "fever seizure." I had never heard the term. The seizure lasted one minute and Avery regained consciousness soon after. I was able to calm her down in the ambulance by singing her favorite songs. All of her medical tests came back fine. She was perfectly healthy except for the fever she had, just 101.5 at that time.
The doc explained febrile seizures happen not because of how high the temp gets but how quickly it rises. Avery was perfectly fine Saturday morning. And she was not warm before we got into the water. Evidently they are pretty common and occur in 2 to 5 percent of kids ranging from 6 months to 6 years but are most common in toddlers. They cause no brain damage, are not linked to neurological problems and are not associated with epilepsy. Children go on to lead normal, healthy lives and are in no way affected. Docs say they are totally harmless and classify them as a "childhood event."
The ER doc didn't think she needed to be admitted but the pediatrician at Avery's practice who was on call said we could be for observation if we wanted. My mama gut told me to do it even though we ran the risk of Avery catching something else in the hospital. After a couple hours in the pediatric wing at Saint Johns, Chad left to pick up Chase and go home for the night while I stayed with Avery.
A good girlfriend (the one who was going to come for dinner) came by to see us. While we were talking and I was holding Avery on the bed, I noticed she began to feel warm all of sudden. We took her temperature and called for the nurse. Before they could respond, Avery had another seizure. This made their diagnosis of febrile seizures almost a certainty since her fever spiked right before the seizure (which we didn't know for certain before).
Febrile seizures can run in the family. I didn't know (or at least didn't remember at the time) that my sister had two fever seizures when she was two years old. I was just one at the time. I also didn't know that my half brother who didn't live with us had them as well. Both are perfectly healthy now and of course have no memory of the seizures. They never developed epilepsy and have no serious medical issues.
I know Avery is fine now. She was diagnosed on Wednesday with Roseola by her pediatrician. It's a nasty virus that carries a fever spike as its first symptom with a very mild respiratory infection. When the docs checked Avery out, they said her throat and ears were just a touch pink. She didn't have a cough or a runny nose. Roseola causes a very high fever for 3 to 5 days followed by a body rash. It also causes febrile seizures in 10 to 15 percent of kids because of the fast fever spike.
It's safe to say I'm a different person after going through this. I'm pretty sure the docs and literature who say it's harmless (although technically accurate) have never held their child in their arms while she seized. I can't even articulate how gut wrenching and terrifying the experience was - both times. I'm having a hard time shaking the images and emotions from the day so again, that's part of why I'm writing it all down now.
I've also read and been told not to have fever phobia or let the anxiety overwhelm me. Avery will continue to have normal childhood viruses, along with Chase. They'll have fevers, coughs and runny noses. Avery has a 30 percent chance of having another one. Chase is slightly more likely than another child simply because his sis had one. It's very rare for a child to have more than two in their lifetime, and again, children grow out of these by around 6.
Even if Avery has another one, she'll still be fine afterward. But I now plan to carry thermometers in diaper bags along with fever reducers, which is a good idea for any parent I think. And 95 to 97 percent of kids will never experience this so there is no reason to be overly worried. But I suppose there are some statistics you can't avoid and every now and then you will fall into the 2 to 5 percent. And when that happens, it's good to be prepared and know what to do. As one resident in the hospital told me - knowledge is power.
My thoughts aren't complete without mentioning the thousands of parents who manage seizure disorders or any other ongoing medical issue with their child. Avery is so lucky to be a healthy child and to receive a clean bill of health but many others are not as lucky. I was already in awe of these people, but now even more so. Their strength is truly remarkable.
I would also be remiss to not mention my husband, mom, Chad's parents, other family members and friends who have showed unbelievable love for my little girl and support for the family. Chad was so anxious when he got the call about Avery, when he packed our hospital bag he managed to include my fingernail clippers and Tums (leftover from pregnancy) but not any underclothes for me. So I stayed in my swimsuit. He also showed he's so much stronger than me in certain areas, and for that ... I'm so thankful. We need to hold each other up when he have to. There is truly no one else I would rather be bringing up these two beautiful children with than my wonderful husband.
Thanks for taking the time to read. God's blessings on all your families. Take care.
Stephanie
