Seizures

For those of you who have been asking I thought I would write about what has been happening with Nathan.  On Tuesday May 15 he had his first seizure.  It was just Nathan and I at home and I was putting him in his bouncer when his whole body went limp and he could not hold up his head or move his arms or legs.  His eyes were glazed over and his mouth was quivering like he was cold.

It took about a minute for him to come back around and then I called the his pediatrician who immediately thought it was a seizure.  They sent us to instacare but all of his tests came back normal so they told us to take him home and watch him.  He had two more seizures that week and so on Friday we called his doctor and made an appointment to see him on Monday.

He didn't have any seizures over the weekend but at the Monday appointment Doctor Ferrara gave us a referral to see a specialist at Primary Children's.  But when I called to make an appointment the soonest I could take Nathan in was the end of August. 

He had a seizure on Tuesday and then a horrible one on Wednesday while Shayne (Matt's mom) was watching him.  The seizure lasted almost two minutes and he would stop breathing for short intervals throughout.  I was so worried about him especially because they were so frequent and his doctor told me to take him to Primary Children's if I was really nervous so I went and picked up Nathan and my mom and we headed up to the emergency room.

We saw two different doctors and a few different nurses who suggested having an EEG test and a CAT scan.  The EEG test was horrible, Nathan has never cried that much in his life.  They attached 23 wires all over his head and then wrapped it with gauze.  The test lasted 45 minutes and when they removed the wires poor Nathan had huge red sores all over his head.

After the EEG we waited several hours and then had a CAT scan done.  That test was way less traumatic for Nathan and I and the test results came back good.  The CAT scan showed that he had not had any trauma to his head, no bleeding, no blood clots, and no tumors.  But we still didn't have any answers.  They made us an appointment to meet with a neurologist that Friday and then sent us home.

Nathan had seizures on both Thursday and Friday and I was so worried and felt so  helpless.  My mom came with Nathan and I to the neurologist appointment where we got the EEG tests.  They unfortunately came back inconclusive.  When the doctor told us that I felt complete hopelessness.  We had seen so many doctors and still no one knew what was wrong with my baby.

Luckily the doctor could see that I couldn't stand to be sent away again and so she made a few suggestions.  She started Nathan on a low-dose seizure medication that we can gradually increase to try and control the seizures.  She also requested to have an MRI to try to give us more answers.

Nathan has still been having pretty regular seizures but they seem to be much shorter, and he hasn't been going as out of it as he was.  The MRI is scheduled for Friday, June 8 and I am hoping and praying that the MRI will give the doctors the information that they need to help Nathan.

The past few weeks have been so difficult and emotional for our family.  The seizures have been hard on Nathan and are to the point where he will cry for hours after he has one and not let you put him down.  Matt and I have both been exhausted both physically and emotionally and are trying to do whatever we can to take care of our baby and get the seizures to stop. 

Even though it has been a challenge Matt and I have felt so much love and strength from our family and friends and are so grateful for the support that we have been given.  I know the Lord has been watching over us and blessing us and giving us so much comfort and strength.  I am so grateful to have such a sweet baby who has been a trooper through all of the testing and exams.  We love Nathan so much and can't wait until the doctors figure out these seizures so that Nathan doesn't have to suffer because of them any more.