Fever Summer

Last week, I took a non-fiction writing class.  Five days, three credits towards my masters degree, not bad, right?  Our assignment for the week was just to write one  non-fiction piece.  I decided to write it on our experience with Jack having two febrile seizures within a month and a half.  I am sharing this on here, not for comments or criticism on my writing, but to make sure that parents are aware that this can happen and if it does they are now better prepared they we were.

A late summer breeze lifts my crimson curtains, the low drone of a distant lawn mower cuts through the silence, as I tip-toe around my home tidying up.  Picking up scattered Match Box cars and wooden alphabet blocks sprinkled across the oak floor, I place them quietly into Jack's worn toy bin.  Suddenly, from his room, a soft, muffled hiccuping. I peek into his room, and walk lightly up to his crib.

Inside his crib, my son is convulsing, a spasmodic puppet being pulled by an unseen master. Sightless eyes rolling in the back of his head, mouth agape and unresponsive.  I snatch him quickly out of his crib calling his name, trying to snap him back to me.  My heart hammers, my mind fades into a blackened fog as I tear him out of his room to the outdoors shrieking my husband's name wishing with every inch of my existence, for this nightmare to end.  What was wrong with my baby?

Rushing frantically back inside, my husband dials 911 and I jump into the shower with Jack, pouring cool water over him.  In the back corner of my mind, a memory of a story told in passing; coming out of church one chilly January morning, a co-worker’s young daughter suddenly had a seizure.  Thankfully, the town doctor who also attended that same church he calmly placed the child in a nearby snow bank cooling her body temperature. 

My husband kneels beside me on the phone with emergency responders as I sit on the side of the tub, shirt soaked, clutching my son to my chest and feeling utterly helpless.  Jack is still convulsing and his lips turn a terrifying blue.  A primal scream explodes from my body as I fear what is every mother's nightmare; my baby is dying.

Eventually my son's body begins to relax, and he is breathing again asleep in my arms. Like a clenched fist unfurling, I feel my body relax and I too begin to breath.  In the distance, we hear the soothing cacophony of the ambulance.

At the hospital, we learn that Jack had a febrile seizure which are convulsions brought on by fevers in small children. When my husband and I put Jack to bed that evening, he had a temperature of a 100.8.  We gave him Tylenol, unconcerned, as he has had fevers before with no ill repercussions.  A febrile seizure usually happens during the first few hours of a fever and when there is a sudden spike in body temperature.

Jack’s seizure lasted two grueling minutes.  Most seizures last a minute or two; some can be as brief as a few seconds while others (although uncommon) can last for more than 15 minutes.   I blanch at the thought of parents having to endure that feeling of helplessness for a quarter of an hour.  once a seizure begins there is little you can do to stop it. You just have to let it run its course, but there are measures one can do to prevent injury to your child.

The following information offers some ideas:

To prevent injury:

● Place your child on the floor or bed away from any hard or sharp objects.

● Turn your child’s head to the side so that any saliva or vomit can drain from the mouth (this  

    is why I believe Jack’s lips turned blue.  Instead of on his side, I had him upright in my 

    arms.) 

● Do not put anything in your child’s mouth; it is physically impossible to swallow your own

   tongue. If your child does vomit help clear the mouth.

● Call 911 immediately if the seizure last for more than 10 minutes.  (I’m sorry, but if I am 

   experiencing this with my child for the very first time I am calling for help immediately.)

Although the research is lacking, preventing high fevers may help to reduce the seizure.  Some advice given:

● Remove any clothing and put cool washcloths on the face and neck.

● If the seizure persists, sponge the rest of the body with cool water.  As the water 

   evaporates, your child’s temperature will fall.  Before your child has a seizure, a tepid bath  

   also works well to lower a fever.

● Ibuprofen and Tylenol can be used as fever reducers.

Febrile seizures usually occur in children between the ages of six months and five years of age and are common in toddlers.  Approximately one in every 25 children will have at least one febrile seizure and more than one-third of these children will have additional febrile seizures before they outgrow them.

Unfortunately, our Jack is in the one-third group.  41 days after his first seizure he had a second one.   He was lying with me when it happened.  We placed him on his side, pressed cool water on his face and neck and waited; this time the seizure lasted for about 20 seconds.  Being informed and prepared made a huge difference.

No one promises that parenting will be easy, because it’s not. I know I will have that knot of anxiety every time Jack has a fever. As parents, we’ll get through this knowing it is not a death sentence; the mortality rate for children with febrile seizures is the same as those without.  We never leave the house now without a little bag that contains Motrin and a thermometer.  Though we may hope for a “cure-all” pill someday, preparedness is our best tool for combating this disorder.  I now check Jack’s forehead seven times a day and I will probably still be checking for a fever when he is 35, but I’m a mom-- it’s what we do.

Sources

Vestergaard, M., Pedersen, M. G., Ostergaard , J. R., Pedersen , C. B., Olsen , J., & Christensen , J.

(2008, 08 09). Death in children with febrile seizures: a population-based cohort study. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18692714

Febrile seizures. (2012, 04 02). Retrieved from http://www.healthychildren.org/English/health-issues/conditions/fever/Pages/Febrile-Seizures.aspx

Febrile seizures fact sheet. (2012, 03 29). Retrieved from http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/febrile_seizures/detail_febrile_seizures.htm