Seizure #2

That's right. Tuesday, right after swimming lessons, we were gathering our towels and things when I heard a thud behind me. I turned to see Zach lying on the ground, having a grand mal seizure. A second seizure. The seizure that doctors said would probably never happen.

I yelled to Jared to call a lifeguard, but he didn't know what was going on. Another swim lesson mom ran to get help. Soon 4 or 5 lifeguards were there with me, asking what happened and doing what they could to help me. Someone called 911.

Talk about scary. Zach was unconscious, his eyes rolling, his face twitching hard and his arms and legs shaking. I watched his lips turn purple, then blue as I held his head to keep it from banging repeatedly onto the concrete pool deck.

Then the paramedics were there, taking over and asking me questions. Yes, he had one seizure before, in April. It was unprovoked. I think he slipped and fell and hit his head. Did that cause him to have the seizure?

Zach woke up a few times to cry and protest being poked and prodded. And then he threw up.

This time, they didn't put him on a stretcher, and they didn't turn the ambulance lights and sirens on. And this time, I gathered my other boys from the good Samaritans who were caring for them while I focused on poor Zach, and we followed the ambulance in our van.

When I got to the hospital, I realized I had to find a place to park! What a stupid time for a silly, mundane task like parking the car. Or for getting out the stroller, packing it with a diaper bag, etc. And when I got inside, I didn't know where to go. Where was my son? I found someone to help me, but he was just a guest relations person. He tried looking up which room Zach had been taken to, but he couldn't find him in the computer. Luckily, someone else knew where the latest ambulance patient had gone, and they found Zach for me. Turns out they'd spelled his name "Lincaster." Yeah, because our name is so rare, and has so many little variations. (That was sarcastic.)

Of course, Zach was fine without me, but I almost have panic attacks when I have to leave him during these episodes. He was just sleeping, as usual. I had lots more questions to answer, for administration, the triage nurse, and finally the ER physician. Yes, he had a seizure once before. No, he doesn't have a fever. No, no one in the house is sick. Yes, he's up to date on his vaccines. They told me that for a bump on the head to cause a seizure, it would have to be hard enough to crack his skull, so it was far more likely that he had the seizure, which caused him to fall, not the other way around.

They tested his blood for electrolytes and blood sugar, and ordered a CT scan. They wanted to take him for that without me, but I thought I might freak out. So Jared fed Cheerios to Luke while they watched cartoons, and I went along as they wheeled unconscious Zach into the CT room. I've only seen them on TV before. It looked like a giant gray doughnut! Of course, the scan was no big deal, but I just can't stand to let that boy out of my sight at times like this.

The CT scan revealed no cracked skull, no bruising of his brain, and no reason for his seizures (I realize now that they would have looked for tumors--scary!)

So, with no explanation, they let him sleep a bit longer, and then had me try to wake Zach. He didn't want to wake up, and wasn't happy when he did. But we were discharged and ushered a very grumpy Zach out of the ER. I carried Luke and put a much-too-big Zach in the stroller to make him a bit happier on the way out to the car. And then we went home.

I was supposed to call the neurologist to make an appointment immediately after we got home, but the office had closed by then. I put Luke to bed and fell into bed myself for a quick nap. It was an exhausting day!