Heart Stopping

A terrible thing happened yesterday.

We went to the beach that morning. Chad and Liam had both woke up not feeling that great but we decided we would go anyhow as planned. Chad basically laid on a beach towel all day and Liam went from my lap, to Keith's, to snoozing on the towel in the shade. He did not want to play and he only ate a bit of lunch. About an hour after lunch I had Liam on my lap facing away from me and I could sense he was very dozy. All of a sudden I felt his body convulse a few times and I turned him around to see something coming from his mouth and he was not responding to me. The rest is a blur but I called for Keith to help and he started whacking him on the back and turning him face down so he could throw up properly. This was not the case...the vomit was thick and seem to be stuck. He ended up (deja vu) sucking out the vomit from him mouth and nose with his mouth and getting him breathing again. Meanwhile, Kori phoned 911 and called an ambulance. Keri and Kori both said that they saw Liam's eyes roll back into his head during this incident which seemed to indicate a seizure. At this point Liam was responsive but pale and listless. The ambulance finally arrived after a very long wait and they decided to take him to Chilliwack Hospital's ER department. So off Keith went with Liam and I rounded up the older two kids and followed in the car.

After a two hour wait we finally got some answers. They x-rayed Liam's chest and his lungs appeared clear. There was a concern of him possibly aspirating vomit. That would cause pneumonia. But all was good...we have a prescription just to cover all the bases but it seems to be a virus. What Liam had was a febrile seizure. I added some info at the bottom of this post that I copied from the internet.

Keith and I were pretty shook up. It was horrible. We thank God for his protection today. What if this would have happened at home while he was napping? We would not have heard him and he could have choked to death. So thankful we still have Liam with us. I cannot fathom what life would be like without him.

Outlook (Prognosis)

The first febrile seizure is a frightening moment for parents. Most parents are afraid that their child will die or have brain damage. However, simple febrile seizures are harmless. There is no evidence that they cause death, brain damage, epilepsy, mental retardation, a decrease in IQ, or learning difficulties.

A small number of children who have had a febrile seizure do go on to develop epilepsy, but not because of the febrile seizures. Children who would develop epilepsy anyway will sometimes have their first seizures during fevers. These are usually prolonged, complex seizures.

Nervous system (neurologic) problems and a family history of epilepsy make it more likely that the child will develop epilepsy. The number of febrile seizures is not related to future epilepsy.

About a third of children who have had a febrile seizure will have another one with a fever. Of those who do have a second seizure, about half will have a third seizure. Few children have more than three febrile seizures in their lifetime.

Most children outgrow febrile seizures by age 5.