It was an ordinary Sunday in June. Tristan felt a little feverish before bed but only had a temp of 100. Ricky was giving Tristan his bedtime bottle while I went upstairs to start the laundry. Maybe 5-10 minutes later I hear my husband calling for me to come downstairs that something was wrong. I ran downstairs and found Tristan in a full blown seizure. His body was jerking around and his eyes were rolled behind his head. My hands were shaking so bad I dropped the phone and it took 4 times before I was able to dial 911 correctly.
While waiting for the ambulance, Tristan turned blue and remained unconscious. Ricky was trying to clear his airway when Tristan started seizing again which caused him to clench his jaw shut on Ricky’s fingers. When the ambulance arrived, they inserted a hard plastic tube to release his fingers and check Tristan’s throat. He was rushed to the hospital where they took his vitals, did blood and urine tests. They gave him a suppository and soaked him with cool towels to reduce his fever. They diagnosed him with a double ear infection and febrile seizures. They told us he is likely to have episodes in the future. During the followup to our pediatrician we were told he did not have ear infections, he had coxsackie virus which caused the high fevers and a throat infection. We also discovered that when seizures are associated with fevers, they are not considered dangerous.
The minutes of uncertainty when Tristan was unconscious, seizing and blue were by far the most horrifying moments of my life. I will never forget the terror in my husbands voice. I will never forget feeling so helpless not knowing what to do to help my son. I will never forget the tidal wave of relief when the Doctors assured us everything was OK. Our son left the hospital seemingly no worse for wear, apple juice drink in hand, asking a million questions about what everybody was doing. We were relieved and thankful. Thankful that we walked away from this episode with our child and his health in tact. Sorry for the parents and their children that weren't so fortunate. We were blessed. So very blessed.
