Febrile Seizure!!

Well, last night was a long one. Landon woke up at 1:40 am crying, with a fever of 106.5!!!!!!! We gave him a quick bath, and then he and I snuggled up on the couch watching cartoon network. He was starting to cool off a bit, his arms and legs were cool to the touch, and after staring dazedly at the tv for about half an hour he fell asleep. He started about 10 minutes later, giving a sort of squawk, and then went into convulsions. Just about killed his mommy to watch!!! :-(
I yelled for Yvonne and John to come downstairs. The seizure lasted about 30 seconds or so (it seemed like it lasted for 30 days!!). He was pretty groggy when he came out of it, he would barely even react when we wiped him with a damp cool cloth. Poor poor baby Landon!
So off to Ab Children's hospital we go....
We got there shortly after 3. He was still soooo hot - they treated him first with Advil, then Tylenol, and after 2 hours of crying while waiting to see the doctor (yup, 2 hours), they gave him some Codeine. That finally konked him out, which is when the doctor came in to see us (of course).
He was thoroughly checked out ... no ear infections, chest x-rays were nice and clear (what a torture chamber that xray machine is ... aiaiaiaiaiai ... I'd be yelling blue-bloody-murder if you stuck me in there too!!), no other signs of secondary or bacterial infection. So - we got to come home about 7 am. Landon was cool finally (the first time he was normal temp since last Tuesday!!), and he slept from 7 until 2 pm (I slept til 1, felt great. John not so lucky - he slept for an hour then went in to work!). He was up for about an hour, drank lots of juice, had some cereal, and I've put him back for a nap as he was fussy and rubbing his eyes. I've given him Motrin (the right amount now - I was under-dosing him before, which is why he'd cool down for 4 hours, then get hot for 2 until we could dose him again ... now the docs gave us specific instructions on what to give him based on his weight last night so hopefully it'll work better). He had a fever of 102 when I dosed him at 2, hopefully he'll cool down and have a nice nap.

So that's our night with Landon. Poor poor baby.

Here's a link for more info on febrile seizures if you're interested
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/febrile-seizure/DS00346

There are no short- or long-term negative effects apparently, it's just a thing some kids do when they get fevers. The doc said there was nothing we could've done to prevent it (like proper Advil dosing, or seeing doctor sooner), and he may or may not seizure again. Let me tell you - likely the hardest thing to witness I've ever endured! He squawked and tensed up, then his eyes rolled back in his head, he spit up, and started convulsing (just like on tv...arms and legs jerking, body jerking, head jerking). It was hard not to squeeze him to me, I had to force myself to give him the 'room to move' so to speak. And it seemed to take so LONG. I am glad that I was holding him though - somehow it makes it better because I was there for it, he didn't have this seizure all alone in his crib (although he was unconscious and will have absolutely no recollection of having the seizure).

We have an appt with the family doctor tomorrow afternoon. Just to check again for secondary infections. Maybe I'll ask for a referral to get a massage - my neck is so tight and sore from holding a squirming kid in the hospital last night (he wouldn't fall asleep at all, until he got codeine, just cried and squirmed for 2 hours). And since aunty Laura isn't due to come up for reflexology for a few more weeks, I can't wait for her treatment. *sigh*

So think really good 'no more seizures' and 'get over the cold' thoughts for Landon now, for sure. I will keep everyone posted on any further progress.

On our related note: we did have a great visit with Yvonne and Greg and Kyle. I would've liked to have had more chance to visit without worrying about Landon, but what time we did have together was very nice. We hadn't really had a chance to visit with Greg one-on-one before, it was always a big family setting, so that was really great. And I'm glad Yvonne was here to help us out with Landon last night - John was able to get an extra hour or so of sleep before the seizure as Yvonne stayed up with me, and she was definitely a calming authority figure when he did seize (good ol' first responder training - she stayed nice and calm!). They left this morning - I felt bad as I just grogged good-bye from bed as I was catching up on some sleep. Hopefully they have a good trip back and beat the snowstorms that are supposedly on their way. aiaiaiai

So there's our news - *shrug* Will post more as anything happens. Take care...TK