A Gray Hair Kind Of Day

Yesterday started out just like all the others over the past couple of weeks, breakfast, swimming lesson, then back to the pool for the afternoon. The day took a quick turn in an unsuspecting direction about 30 minutes after being at the pool.

The kids were all in fun Connect 4 tournament at the pool with some friends. They were set up in the shade because it was extremely warm and humid. Allison came over to me saying she didn't feel well. She looked a bit pale and was sort of gagging like she was going to throw up. I quickly picked her up and ran with her to the bathroom - didn't take time to grab her shoes. We didn't make it to the bathroom. I spotted a trash can on the way and stopped there. After a moment or two of screaming (something that is common when she is throwing up) she said that she was dizzy. With that her eyes rolled back into her head and when I looked down at her, her face was blue. That is when a woman came over to ask if I needed help. She mentioned to me that as I was running by her with Allison, she noticed that she was blue at that point. Allison never lost conscienceness and never threw up. Someone had pulled a chair over to me and I had Allison laying on my lap. Out of nowhere, a young girl came over and said that she was a medical assistant and started to help to treat Allison, who by the way was still blue. Allison at this point was so lethargic and drowsy, we had a very difficult time getting her to stay awake but knew she couldn't go to sleep. At some point, a 911 call was placed and we knew that the paramedics and police and ambulance were on the way. We had ice chips behind her neck and a wet towel over her head to keep her cool. All the while though, she kept wanting to drift off to sleep. It took about 15 minutes for anyone to arrive and by then Allison had pretty much come out of whatever she was going through. Her color came back, she wasn't as sleepy and definitely more responsive. The paramedics put a heart monitor on, took her pulse and blood pressure, all of which were in the normal range. I don't think the paramedics thought she needed any further treatment but at the encouragement of all the others around me (friends, pool staff and the medical assistant), I opted for her to be transported by ambulance to the ER. I really didn't know what to do but relied on what my friends were just about insistent on. At some point in all this, Eric was called and was on his way. A friend said that she would keep Jacob at the pool - I had no idea what to do with him. So... off we went.

Because we came via ambulance, they took her right away and she got evaluated faster than they could check her in. The hospital has a little room w/ 3 beds just for pediatrics. We were lucky that she was the only one there! Because she was pretty much back to herself, I was feeling a bit silly for causing so much drama. After the Dr. examined her, there was no conclusive diagnosis or explanation for what happened. The symptoms that she displayed were not matching up with a diagnosis. Some symptoms pointed to one thing while others ruled that one thing out. The one thing that Dr. kept asking was "Are you sure she didn't choke on a game piece?". I'm thinking..."No... she's 6 yrs. old and doesn't put things in her mouth. Besides, I'm pretty sure she wouldn't have been able to talk if she had been choking on a Connect 4 game piece (those pieces are big). Just to be safe, they did and EKG on her which came back "perfect".

So... if the Dr. was forced to make a diagnosis, it would have been a "doubtful temporal lobe seizure". What the heck does that mean, doubtful? Anyway.... 50% of kids that have this type of seizure will never have another. The first seizure is never treated anyway, so there wasn't anything they would have done for her. I on the other hand have my own thoughts on the diagnosis. I think it was heat related. Although she was not dehydrated, and her symptoms do not point to heat stroke, I still feel that it was the heat in combination with low blood sugar. She hadn't had lunch just yet when all this started and she had higher than normal sugary foods for breakfast (waffles w/ syrup and OJ). Allison has always been my one to be most affected by the heat anyway and she had not yet even gotten into the pool.

Within an hour of arriving at the ER, we were walking out the door. I guess there are definite advantages to arriving via ambulance! Allison wanted to head back to the pool but we quickly put the kabosh on that idea. She had a quiet afternoon with Eric here at home while I went back to the pool to be with Jacob and bring him home.

So...nothing like a little drama! Oh, by the way... although I had my camera, I felt a little funny taking pictures of my "sick" daughter! So for all my fellow bloggers, you will just have to paint a mental picture in your head! Hopefully that will be a (as Jacob puts it...) "once in a lifetime field trip"!