Febrile Seizures

It has been a long 24+ hrs. at the White house. Yesterday afternoon Landon had a febrile seizure - also known as "fever" seizures. This is the second time Landon has had a febrile seizure, but somehow it was no less scary. I found Landon in his bed during naptime seizing and immediately called 911. I also took his temperature. It was 105.2. My friend Karli ran over and grabbed Brayden and Charlotte (thank you Karli!) and Landon and I were taken in the ambulance to the hospital. By the time we got there Landon had somewhat calmed down, but was still very out of it. He also had a hard time re-gaining muscle control after the seizure and seemed to have a temporary paralysis of his limbs. This of course worried the doctors (and us!) and so Landon was given a battery of tests to try and find the cause of the fever. A cause was never totally pinpointed - although they did find a little fluid in his lungs and are treating him with a blanket antibiotic. We were released late last night and Landon has continued to get better as the day has worn on thanks in part to the fact that he's hopped up on Tylenol and Motrin.

As in most of our family situations, there was some humor to the whole episode. It was time for the nurse to take Landon's temperature (rectally of course!) Landon had already had his rectal temperature taken 3 times previous and had not been too keen on it. At this point he was alert enough to know what was going on and as the nurse spread his legs he yelled, "Stop bothering me!" It was hilarious. That's my little Landon-man - always sticking up for himself. We really knew Landon had returned when we got home from the hospital. Ryan tried to help Landon out of his carseat and Landon said, "No! I do it!" Ryan looked at me and said, "He's baaaack." Funny how a phrase that drives me nuts most days was music to my ears.

Although I hope that none of you ever need this information, I have complied a brief list of factoids and things to do should your child ever have a febrile seizure:

• 1 in every 25 children have febrile seizures
• Febrile seizures occur in children ages 6 months to 6 years
• Children rarely develop their first febrile seizure before 6 months or after 3 years
  
• 33% of children who have had 1 seizure will have additional seizures
• Most seizures happen within the first day of the fever
  
• If your child is seizing, DO NOT put anything in their mouth
• Call 911 immediately
• Lie your child on the floor and gently turn him/her on their side

This picture is not from today, but I love it because it is how I always think of Landon - my little wild man.