Terrified

Last night Bam-Bam woke up with a shrill scream. My husband rushed into his room only to find him covered in vomit. I quickly followed and snatched him up to cuddle him, took him into the bathroom and gave both of us a bath and put us both in clean pajamas. Bam-Bam threw up once more and was finally back to sleep within a couple of hours. I figured - stomach flu - no problem. We've been through this. The morning was typical. B wasn't very hungry and wanted to watch cartoons and mostly just drink water. He was pretty much himself except for not having much appetite.

Suddenly everything changed. I was on the computer, probably doing something dumb like checking Facebook. Out of the corner of my eye, Bam-Bam literally dropped like a brick. I looked over and he was flat on his back looking stunned. He got up and carried on seemingly for an hour. He was screaming and grabbing his head. I didn't even really understand what was happening. I thought maybe he slipped on the floor and bumped his head, though my instinct told me that wasn't right. No, he had just crumbled to the floor in one fell swoop. I may not have had my eyes right on him, but I know what my peripheral vision witnessed.

Within a few minutes he seemed to calm down. Then it happened. I was holding him in my lap and he just started to twitch. 3-4 twitches was all he did but his behavior after the fact was bizarre. He wasn't himself. Bam-Bam was not there. He was lethargic and quiet and just weird. I thought, ok - don't over react. He probably has the chills because maybe he is sick. Took the temp - 99.2 - not really high enough to make someone that shivery. Still, I was in denial. I called the doctor and asked if we could bring him by because he wasn't "himself" and had a low grade fever.

I started to get ready to go to the doc while Hubby distracted B with a YouTube fish movie on my computer. Then Hubby yells to me - "Let's go, we're going to the hospital NOW!" My husband is a pretty calm guy. He is not an alarmist at all. He was freaked. I dashed out of the bedroom and asked what happened. He said that as B watched the video he suddenly fell to the side, limply and jerked. Same vacant look in his eye.

SHIT!

I grabbed my bag and didn't even take time to look for my glasses. We were out the door to the hospital. We got right in at the ER, which was a huge relief. As soon as we got to the back and started telling the nurse what happened, she was quick to dismiss his "tremors" as chills. I tried to tell her that it didn't seem like chills. My husband and I both described what we saw. She still acted like it was no big deal and that we shouldn't worry. I thought to myself, " well, maybe we are getting a little carried away here." All the while my gut told me different.

No surprise that the doc came in and said the same thing. The flu, nothing to worry about, probably chills, kids fall down all the time, we've seen tons of cases like this with the swine flu going around, blah, blah, blah....

So they give us some water and some juice and a little dissolving pill for nausea and say as long as he doesn't barf in the next 15 minutes after drinking something we are free to go. Hubby and I are both feeling somewhat relieved, though both of us have this nagging feeling that something is amiss.

The doc comes back and is chatting with us about the discharge, give the kid the Tamiflu, watch him for diarrhea, etc...then B starts up again. He has the tremors right in front of the doctor. The doctors eyes become saucers. He says to me, "is this what has been happening?" I told him, "yes, exactly....what do you think?"

This doctor is clearly freaking at this point. Clearly.

He starts rubbing his head, saying "Hmmmm..." a lot, "I'm not sure..."

Finally he tells us - I'm cancelling the discharge and ordering a CT scan. SHIT, again.

Talk about scary as hell. Ever try to hold down a 2 year old while he's being strapped into a CT scan apparatus? How about trying to do it while the child screams, "I need help!" the entire time. Heartbreaking. I was an absolute mess yet trying to pull it together to keep B from being too scared.

Here's the crazy part. The CT scan came back clear. So, we were of course happy that he didn't have a brain tumor. The ER doc told us at this point that there was nothing more he could do. The CT scan was only one test in a battery that probably should be run and, oh by the way, follow up with your regular doc who can refer a neurologist next week. Oh, and by the way, I'm pretty sure it's not seizures, but it's not the chills either so that is your best bet. See ya later, don't let the door hit you in the ass on the way out...

WTF?

Seriously? Now, not that I wanted my kid in the hospital any longer than he had to be but what am I supposed to do in the meantime? So here I sit waiting. When we got home, I called my Aunt who has a kid who had epilepsy when he was little. His symptoms were so similar to B's. I know that if that is what it is it can be treated...but I'm really just terrified of my baby having to go through all of these inevitable tests.

For those of you who pray - please pray. If you don't and can send some positive thoughts - please do that. We'll take whatever you have. I will keep everyone posted on what happens. Hoping for something simple and easy to treat.