Josh's first trip to the ER

Josh got really sick last week. Starting on Monday Josh hardly had an appetite. He didn't have a fever or any other symptoms besides being fussy so I thought it was teething. He ate a little here and there and drank his milk so I didn't get too worried. I just hoped his molar would come in so he'd feel better. Thursday he woke up with a fever of 102. He was still fussy and still didn't want to eat much and I just kept thinking it was teething. I gave him Tylenol and laid him down for his nap around 11:30. At 2pm Josh made a few happy talking noises, the kind he usually makes when he wakes up from a nap and I usually let him just talk and play in his crib for a little while until he yells for me to go get him. I hopped in the shower for 2 minutes and when I got out I went to the door to listen, thinking he'd probably be getting bored and yelling for me but it was quiet so I thought he must have gone back to sleep.



Finally around 2:30 Josh starting crying and it was a weird moaning cry. I'd never heard Josh cry like that but thought it was because he was just really hungry or not feeling well. I ran upstairs and when I saw Josh in his crib, he was moving strangely. It took me a couple seconds to register what was happening. At first I thought he was playing around or throwing a tantrum but in the couple seconds it took for me to run across his room to his crib where I could see him better, I realized that his body was stiff, his eyes were rolled back, and his head, right arm, and right leg were twitching violently and synchronized. I was pretty sure he was having a seizure.

I grabbed him and ran downstairs without really thinking but feeling a sense of urgency. My mind was racing. Should I take him to the hospital? Should I take him to the doctor's office down the street? Do I need to DO something to stop the seizure? Is this something I'm supposed to know? Whatever I'm doing I need to do immediately. I happened to have my phone in my pocket so I called Brandon as I laid Josh on the sofa and took his clothes off because he was boiling hot. When Brandon didn't answer I called 911.

The 911 operator asked me the routine questions and said an ambulance was on their way and should be there in just a few minutes. She stayed on the phone with me while I had a complete meltdown. I was sobbing hysterically and freaking out. Josh was still having his seizure and I kept panicking that I needed to do something to stop the seizure. Josh's breathing was slightly labored, his eyeballs were either twitching or rolling backward. His head, right arm and right leg continued to violently twitch. He was drooling a lot and the operator told me to turn him on his side so the drool would come out his mouth. The physical manifestation of the seizure was so abnormal that it was really alarming and scary. It felt like Josh could die at any moment. The 911 operator assured me that since Josh had a fever it was most likely a febrile seizure which is a fever resulting from a fast spike in temperature and that the seizure wasn't doing any harm to him and that it would eventually end. The most important thing for me to do was stay calm and watch his breathing to make sure he was still breathing. She said not to hold or restrain Josh, but to lay him on a flat surface that he couldn't roll off of and to keep him on his side so he wouldn't choke on saliva and make sure he was breathing. She helped me stay calm and she was patient with me as I freaked out. About 5 minutes later Josh's seizure started slowing down which freaked me out more. I thought he was going to die. But the 911 operator told me that the seizure was probably coming to an end. Finally the seizure stopped and Josh started to look at me and reach for me. He was extremely lethargic and I thought he might have brain damage or be on the verge of dying. I started crying even harder.

The ambulance got there right after Josh's seizure ended. The EMTs were very calm and nice and I told them what happened. Josh kept doing the sign for "milk" but the EMTs said I shouldn't give him anything to eat or drink. Josh started crying a little. The EMTs agreed that Josh most likely had a febrile seizure so he will be okay but that we should go to the hospital to get his temperature down and get him looked at to make sure he was okay. We got Josh in his car seat and strapped the car seat to the gurney in the ambulance. Josh cried a little but was mostly out of it.

My best friend Rachel and Josh's best friend Winnie met us at the hospital. I don't know what I would have done without Rachel there with me. I was a mess. At the Emergency Room they weighed Josh to determine the dosage for his medicine. They checked his temperature which was 105 and they gave him the tylenol and ibuprofen. Then they admitted us to a room and gave Josh apple juice and crackers which he ate a little bit of. The doctor came in and looked at Josh and said he looked fine and that it was a febrile seizure and explained more about it. A febrile seizure happens in 1 in every 25 children under the age of 6 (primarily under the age of 3) and is caused by a sudden spike in body temperature. The doctor said he wanted to wait until Josh's temperature went down before we could leave. I finally got a hold of Brandon who was a 4-hour drive away at High Adventure with the Young Men in the ward. He left immediately to start the drive back.

So we just waited in the hospital room. I miraculously had the iPad to keep Josh entertained. He just laid there and ate and drank a little bit. We waited for maybe an hour. The nurse came in and took his temperature and said it was down to 102. Josh got a priesthood blessing and a few minutes later the nurse came in with the discharge papers and said we could leave. We stopped by Rachel's house because Rachel had gone to the store to grab medicine and Pedialyte for us. Rachel sent us on our way with dinner and hugs. We got home around 7pm and Brandon got home around 8:45 that night. We moved our mattress into Josh's room to sleep in there with him, cranked the AC, got Josh into a loose-fitting t-shirt and shorts, gave him medicine, and got Josh to sleep. I only slept a few hours that night. I kept listening for Josh's breathing, touching him to make sure he was breathing and wasn't too hot. I woke him up a few times to give him medicine when it was time. Josh and Brandon slept great which is good.

We took him to the pediatrician the next morning and they said he looks great and we learned more about the febrile seizure and what to do in the future since Josh is prone to having them and could have another one. She said that if it happens again that we are more than welcome to call 911 or go to the ER but if Josh has a fever and we feel like it is most likely another febrile seizure, that we can also just follow the recommendations the 911 operator told me to do and wait until the seizure ends and if the seizure lasts less than 10 minutes and stops and Josh's functionality returns and he seems okay, that we can just call the pediatrician's office and take him there to get looked at to make sure he's okay.

Josh continued to have a fever of close to 104ish the next 2 days but we kept it low with medicine. His fever improved a lot on Sunday and was gone by Sunday evening. Monday he seemed to be doing better and Tuesday his appetite came back in full force. He couldn't seem to eat enough! He caught up on sleep and rest and seemed completely back to himself a few days after that.

I was really emotional, tired, and on edge that week. But I also felt really grateful that Josh was okay and the experience put things in perspective and reminded me what really matters. We really enjoyed our time together as a family. It also meant a lot to feel love and support from so many people. Thanks everyone!

-Amy