A birthday I'll Never Forget

This year I had a Birthday I'll never forget. It' started out great, with phone calls and texts from friends and family. The girls were at Preschool so I enjoyed a nice quiet house. Then I got a surprise call from Joe that he was off early, (by 9:00 early)so we were able to go to lunch. Then my mom took me to a movie and then offered to take the girls so Joe and I could nap. It was great, I was going to nap, then take the kids to the park/lake for a picnic dinner, then go get a massage while daddy put the kids to bed and then to dessert with friends from church.

That was the "PLAN"

We got a call from Ryan's teacher "Mr. Lance" and he said that Ryan didn't look well. That he seemed tired, actually fell asleep during story time. I told him that he did wake up at 5:40 that morning which is an hour or 2 earlier than normal so he probably needed a nap. I could come get him if he needed me too, but he said that he could have him lay down somewhere and that he would call me if he needed me. So Joe and I went to lay down, Joe setting his alarm for 1 hr (so he could go pick up Ryan from school) and I set mine for 2 hours because it was my BIRTHDAY! hehe


Well the nap DID NOT happen, within minutes of laying my head on the pillow the phone rang again, this time Joe answered it. All he said was "NOOO", and then quiet for what seemed like forever and his eyes got wide and bugged out. He said ok we will be right there and hung up the phone. He said Ryan had a seizure! SO off we went, fast as lightening. I remember thinking, he didn't have a seizure, there's no way he must of just been tired or something. then my thoughts turned to... what if he did have a seizure, why did he have a seizure, then the memory of a boy i took care of at Bristol Park who had a brain tumor, and the only way they found it was when he hit his head playing at school and had a ct scan and found it. Joe too, thought... he didn't have a seizure, there's no way.


When we got to the school the fire truck was parked outside, and Mr Lance stepped out of the office to let us know he was in there. As I was running towards him I asked him if he was OK and his eyes just looked at me somber like. I went in and found him on the couch, eyes closed, oxygen mask on, arms up like in the fetal position but his body was limp, and grunting as he took each breathe. He didn't respond to me as I talked to him or touched him. He only flinched and cried when they started his IV. They wanted to transport him right away, I went in the ambulance with him and Joe followed. I gave the teachers each a hug and got their phone numbers to call them to give them and update.

We took off to the hospital fighting the traffic by exiting each exit then reentering the freeway using lights and sirens when doing so. It was nerve wracking and exciting...GO, GO, GO!!!!

I'm sending texts for prayer requests along the way, and the ambulance driver asked if I was texting "a novel", haha....yes just everyone I know who has a text plan!

SO we get to Mendy's Place, a pediatric ER, and they took really good care of him. The dr's and nurses were super nice. They did blood work, urine tests, and a CT scan relatively quickly. Ryan had periods of alertness, but then would crash out for 30 mins to an hr or more. and when he was awake he wasn't himself, sluggish and in pain it seemed. He would cry and and moan. It was hard to watch.

Some friends from the church were near the hospital and were able to stop by and help Joe give him a blessing. immediate peace was felt from the powerful prayer and comfort was priceless. Also one of them shared his story that one of his sons this same thing happened to, how scary it was, but then never again. Which was also reassuring to hear.

The Dr wasn't comfortable sending him home since he wasn't returning to his normal self, he said normally it only takes 20-30 mins and we had been there for 4 hrs. And because he couldn't quite pin point the reason for the seizure, he wanted him to have and EEG test done and have a Pediatric Neurology consult but that meant to be shipped downtown.

Here begins the pictures and videos of the event......

Ryan at Mendy's Place, the Pediatric ER, he was lethargic like this for hours! Til 9:30 that night. He had periods of alertness, but really only lasted 1-10 minutes before he crashed out again.



So Joe went home to be with the girls and mom came to bring me somethings I would need to stay overnight in the hospital (especially my phone charger!) and brought Ryan some legos and his favortie stuffed animals to comfort him.

One of his semi alert periods where he built a Lego boat with Grandma.




He's pretty out of it, soo tired!



A little more alert and with it, getting ready for to ride in an ambulance "AGAIN!"


off he goes, this time he actually remembers this ride!


this video makes my heart beat a little funny and my stomach flutter.



But he didn't stay awake for the whole ride, he was asleep within minutes

sound asleep!

Now at St Joe's hospital where we stayed overnight. He got a cool set of new pajamas to where and started to act more himself. He was making the nurses laugh and was happy and content.

His Light Saber toe! we had light saber toe fights, he won, he had better powers than i did!

He was more alert and with it finally! It was around 10pm when he was getting checked out by the nurses and dr's at this hospital. He was acting happy and silly just like normal Ry. He was making them laugh by saying silly stuff like..."I like pigs because they go oink!" and made the snorting noise! They gave me more reassurance that he seemed OK, but would monitor him over night and do more testing in the morning and see the specialist.

So we made our selves comfortable, Ryan wanted to play a game and watch a movie. I started to feel much better that he was OK and everything was alright. But then I immediately began to worry again, because the thought occurred to me that he just slept for about 8 hrs!!! OH NO!! !He's going to be up ALL NIGHT!!!! hahah I was used to staying up all night in the hospital, but this time I was mentally exhausted and needed sleep!

This was a picture on the wall in his room that he liked and wanted to take a picture of. Ryan took the picture. After taking pictures, playing a game and watching a movie, I made him lay down and try to sleep at 12:30am. Fortunately he did with no problems. We were woken up at 2 to check on him, and at 4am to do vitals and draw blood. then up for the morning at 7:30am.

Later in the morning they came into do the EEG test on him. It didn't hurt or bother him at all, as you can see.

He just had to lay there and try to be still and watch cartoons.

Cool new hair do!

Video's of Ryan getting around and making do with his new "Friend" the IV and IV pole.

Eating his yummy lunch "chicken noodle soup"

Seeing daddy for the first time

While we waited for the specialist to read the results of the test and come see him, we passed the time by playing games, coloring and watching movies. They have a child life specialist who came in the morning and gave Ryan that cool quilt on his bed, a beanie baby cat, and some games to play and coloring books to have. The offered movies and support. She was amazing and great! Made his stay wonderful, It was a blast for Ryan. He was bummed to of missed school, but had a great time doing all the fun activities. When he returned to school the next day he told everyone that he can't wait til he can go to the hospital again! We will go and visit but not be a patient again!! haha

This computer game was also brought in by the Child life specialist.

This board was in Ryan's room.

The PCT or patient care technician LOVED Ryan. The first thing she said when she came into the room was "hellooo, ooooh you are soooooo cuuuuute!!" and he proceeded to tell her all about Godzilla and "underwater fire Godzilla", and she said in her thick accent "ooh wow, I've never heard of fire underwater Gardzilla"

And she always offered him some juice or chocolate milk, to which he lite up and said CHOCOLATE MILK PLEASE!"

It was heaven for him. Nice people, fun games and activities, and an endless supply of chocolate milk! No wonder he wants to go back! haha

They had a child life play room where we could do more activities like play play do, do puzzles and play the Wii.

LOL! Ya I think Ryan is OK and we can go home! We just needed the DR to come and give us the go ahead.

He wanted mommy to make a funny face too!

Playing the Wii with Daddy while we were waiting.

Ryan posing in front of all of his art work he drew throughout the day and we decorated his room with. He is dressed and ready to go. Checked out A OK. They gave us the explanation that some kids will just have them with never a reason why. Every kid is allowed to have 1 seizure without having to be followed up or put on meds. We have precautions to follow for the next few years, but really as a 5 year old boy it's the same kind of supervision that we would normally have. They informed us of what to do in the event of another seizure, like clearing the area, let him finish his seizure and never stick anything in his mouth.

We are free to go! Free at last, we are free at last! With the good news to give us that wonderful feeling we had been waiting for for over 24 hrs! It was a wild ride, but with trials comes a new strength. Waiting for the strength to come still, still in the midst of Post traumatic Stress syndrome, but I have faith it will!

We have been truly blessed, many prayers said and answered in our behalf. Thank you to all our wonderful family and friends that offered prayers, help, blessings, childcare, and phone calls for support. It is amazing to me how much love we felt during this trial we faced and how it helped carry us through. We thank the Lord of all of our blessings! We truly have been blessed!

Families are forever!