Seizure Monster

I'm not even sure where to start this post . . . it all still seems so bizarre to me.  Henry had a seizure on Monday while we were at Lucy's outpatient therapy.  He looked a bit pale so I took him to the vending machine.  Henry's always been my snacker, and he gets super cranky, and sometimes even feels sick, when he doesn't constantly have something to munch on.  He picked out a drink and a snack, and we turned to walk back in.

Henry stopped and looked confused.  He wouldn't look, or couldn't look, straight at me.  He said, "Mommy, I can't see anything".  And I looked at him closely as he said it again, then he just collapsed.  I knew it was a seizure.  It sounds dramatic because I guess it was, but Mike literally walked into the doors at that very moment.  He hadn't planned to come to therapy that day, but decided to stop by on his lunch break.  I had no idea he was coming, but the Lord had him there right as Henry fell to the ground.

We tried pinching him and calling his name, and all of the other things we seizure-parents do to distract our children during seizures; to check and see if the seizure is still going on.  He looked like he was asleep and didn't have any jerking or twitching, just as with the other episodes we had seen.  I opened his eyes and saw that they were rolled into the back of his little head.  Mike carried him into the therapy room and we slowly started to get him to wake.  He ate and drank a bit, and very slowly started to feel better.

Henry wasn't himself until last evening.  He was postictal, which means his brain was just worn out from the seizure activity.  This happens often after seizures, so we weren't surprised at all by it.  I put a call into the neurologist who upped Henry's seizure meds.  Seizures aren't considered "emergencies" unless they go on for a certain amount of time.  They also aren't considered emergent unless the patient stops breathing or if their breathing changes.  None of this happened with Henry, so we didn't take him to the ER and there was no need to call 911 (just to clarify for those who aren't familiar with seizures).

This is a great description of what Henry experienced: What happens with a seizure?

I am discouraged, as I truly thought that Henry's past seizure episodes were caused by a certain medication he had been on.  We had slowly weaned him off that med a while ago, so it is no longer in his little system.  So this means that Henry had a drop seizure and we just don't know why.

On a very happy note, Henry continues to be the sweet boy that we've known him to be - giving and tender-hearted, loving and sharing with everyone he sees.  We are absolutely grateful for this and it is something I don't take for granted!  I'm praying that this peaceful time will continue in his heart and in his mind.  I can literally see him making the right choices in his mind, right before my eyes.  It is a joy to watch him unfold and change before my eyes.  Lord, give him more!

Please pray for Henry.  Pray for his brain.  Pray that this is something that he will grow out of.  Pray that this will stop immediately!  Pray that God would give him understanding as he becomes more aware of his body and how it doesn't work the way that he wants it to.  Pray for Conner too, that he doesn't feel lost in all of this.  Lucy is doing so well, Henry was doing so well, then out of nowhere this seizure happens.  Conner told me yesterday, "It's just one more thing, Mom".

Heavy-Hearted,
Ryan