James' Journey

Wow, we have had quite the year all ready and January is not even over yet. We thought our big news this year would be the birth of our third baby but James decided he needed to compete just a little. After a fun and relaxing Christmas break for Quinn and the kids (I was sick) we got a scare on Jan 3rd. I witnessed James have a seizure, he fell to the floor really slow I thought he was playing around. But then his body went all stiff and his arms and legs started to shake and his eyes glazed over. It only lasted about 20 seconds, I think, it felt like forever and was one of the scariest things I've ever witnessed. When it was over he recovered pretty fast and was back to normal playing and running around with Emma. I quickly called the pediatrician and they said I needed to take up to Primary Children's Medical Center ER. I called Quinn and he immediately left work to meet us there. Marilyn came right over to stay with Emma and off James and I went. We got right in and the doctor came in and assessed James. He was just fine but she said that it sounded like he had a seizure. All they could do that day was an EKG to make sure it was not his heart that had caused it.

 

Here is James getting this test. He was not too happy about having these things stuck all over him. The test was normal so they sent us home with a referral to see a neurologist.

 

 

James continued to have seizures, 8 more before we could get in to see the neurologist a week later. We got in to see Dr. Filloux on January 11 and he was great. He looked James over and great with him. He then sent us right over for an EEG instead of sending us home to schedule one. The test involved sticking probes all over James' head to monitor how his brain is working. They also needed James to fall asleep to get a really good reading. It was a good thing that he woke up earlier than normal that morning and it was late in the afternoon so he was tired. (There was a huge snow storm this day and roads were crazy, the plows could not keep up but we made it.)

 

We read books and played with toys to distract him while the tech but the probes on his head.

Once they were all on they put a bandage all around his head so he wouldn't pull them off. They the tech turned off the light and went out and it was up to us to get him to fall asleep. James did freak out at first and it took some work to get him calmed down but eventually he did fall asleep.

 

A very happy boy to have those things off his head, but it left him with a messy goopy head of hair.

 

Dr. Filloux stuck around late to give us the results from the test that day instead of sending us home. He was so great and took the time to answer all of our questions. The test was basically normal except for one little blip which indicated an underlying tendency to have seizures. Dr. Filloux sent us home with a prescription for Keppra, an anti-seizure medication, to be taken twice a day, and an order for an MRI. Life went on as normal after that and James went one week with no seizures but after being on the medication for a week he has had 3 very mild seizures in one week. They only last about 10 seconds and he recovers very quickly from them. We are waiting to hear back from the doctor if they are going to up his dose or change to a different medication.

 

Here is James doing a puzzle. If he is not playing with cars then he is usually doing puzzles and is very good at them. He can put a 48 piece puzzle together all by himself often times faster than Emma. He also sticks to it longer than Emma.

On January 24th we once again headed up to PCMC for James' MRI. The weather was also horrible on this day. We had our first ice storm and it was scary. Quinn tried to go to work that morning for half a day but after 2 hours of driving (the freeway was closed) he only made it halfway and figured by the time he got there he would just have to turn around to meet me at the hospital so he turned around and made it home after another scary hour of driving. This made me very happy though because then he could drive us up to the hospital but by then the roads were much better and we left in plenty of time we arrived very early. Anyway James did surprisingly well for this test.

 

We knew they would sedate him for the test but that meant an I.V. As an adult these are one of my least favorite things so I was really worried about James but he did really well. They tried one hand and we were able to distract him with him only saying ouch a couple of times but they couldn't hit the vein so they decided to start over on the other hand. This time he did cry but never tried to pull his hand away or move his body around. I was totally expecting to have to really hold him down while he screamed but he was such a trooper.

 

Here he is showing off his dinosaur wrap over his I.V. and his new car he got to pick from the treasure box of toys for being such a brave boy.

We were able to be with him while they sedated him which was a good thing because when we thought he was all the way asleep they started to prep him for for the test and we woke up slightly and started to cry for Mom. It took me a few minutes to talking softly and stroking his face for him to calm down and fall all the way asleep. After that there were no more problems. We waited in the recovery room right outside for about 30 minutes. Then they brought him right in and he slept for a while before we woke him up with a Popsicle.

Our peaceful sleeping boy after the test.

It was so funny when the nurse came over to wake him. She just touched his lips with the Popsicle and he sat right up and started eating it but he was still so drowsy that he refused to lift his head or really look at us. His eyes were barely open, but he was determined to eat that Popsicle.

 

Finally awake enough to lift his head. Melt your heart cute!

 

He then got another treat - his favorite cookie - oreos!

 

Once he had eaten something we were able to come home. It is no fun to have watch your child go through something like this but it is amazing just how brave and resilient kids are. We got the results the next day thank goodness. I did not what to wait over the weekend. James' MRI was completely normal! We are so thankful that the seizures are not being cause by anything really serious such as a tumor. Now we just wait and hope the medication takes care of the problem and that he grows out of it someday like they say kids do.

 

One other thing that has happen because of all this is seeing what a great big sister Emma is to James. She watches over him all the time. They are such good friends that she has been with him when he has seizures and instantly comes running to get one of us. She then stays right by him and tries to make him smile and be happy when we comes out of them. She knows something is wrong and doesn't want him to be hurt or sad.

 

We have also been very blessed to have such a wonderful family, a good ward and great friends who have fasted and prayed for our family. Thank you all so much. We are so grateful for you love and support.