Samee Jo's E.R. Visit #2

So from the last post, we ended up at home thinking that the worst was over.

At 9:20 on Tuesday morning, JM, Samantha, and I went to Dr. Fearday at the Sarah Bush Lincoln (SBL) pediatrics office for a check-up.  There are multiple doctors at this office and it used to be located inside the actual hospital.  However, just a few months ago their building was completed and they now are located across the parking lot from SBL Hospital.
When we entered the exam room, Samee's temperature was around 99.  Dr. Fearday was running behind and Samantha actually took a nap.  However, I felt like she was becoming increasingly warm.  Dr. Fearday did an exam and ordered a strep-test.  She left the room, to review the analysis from the Paris E.R. and a nurse came in to do the strep-test.  Samee was getting a little testy and the nurse thought that she felt warm as well.   She had left to get some Motrin, maybe, I'm not sure because the situation became worse very quickly.  She shut the door and I was holding Samee trying to console her.  I felt her tense and I looked down into her eyes and realized she was starting to go into a seizure. I remember saying "no, no , no , no ,no" and JM asking "what?". I opened the exam room door and said (maybe shouted) she's seizing, she's seizing". 
Toddlers seem so tough and strong from all the falls, and bumps and bruises that happen but when I had to lay her on the exam table she seemed so small and fragile.  And i felt so helpless.... 
Her seizure lasted for approximately 2minutes or a little more.  Dr. Fearday and Dr. Snowden (the head doctor) came in to observe.  Dr. Snowden kept reassuring us that as bad as it seemed, that these seizures where pretty much harmless and have no lasting affects, and blah blah blah. I looked at them and said "can't you stop this?".  Unfortunately they couldn't.  They talked about their being a medication, but I'm not sure if they didn't have it there in the office, or that it wasn't bad enough yet, etc.  It all seems kind of fuzzy.
After the seizure was over, I was holding her and I could tell that she was trying to go back into it.  But I kept talking to her and telling her to stay with me and "look at momma, Samantha, look at momma".
They wanted her seen at the E.R. immediately but would not let us drive her over there, so the ambulance came to pick us up.  The paramedic was concerned about her heart rate (177 when we arrived in the E.R. and was hooked up to monitors).  I had held it together pretty well after the seizure and even during the seizure.  Don't get me wrong, I had tears running down my face but I wasn't histarical by any means.  When they wheeled us through the E.R. and I looked into the E.R. nurses/people behind the desk's faces I pretty much lost it again, but sucked it up pretty quick.  I'm a pretty big believer in not crying and being strong for those that need it.  Samantha needed it.
We had the opportunity to hang out in the E.R. for most of the day.  Jim, JM'd dad, came over and they went out to get lunch and brought me lunch back.  Samee Jo napped off and on.  The blood work and I.V. were a little brutal but she did o.k. settling down afterwards.  Her right arm had a great vein but had been previously used so they were trying to avoid using it.  However, that just wasn't going to work.
After the E.R. doctor (who was GREAT) and Dr. Snowden talked, we were told that she needed to stay overnight for observation.  Since she had had 2 seizures that close together (less than 24 hours) they wanted to keep her.  Also a contributing factor to us staying was that she went from a 99 degree temperature to a 103.8 in less than 40 minutes.  SCARY

Samee Jo did very well with her I.V. She would get curious and touch it and we would tell her not to pull on it.  Soon she would touch it and shake her head "no". Such a smart cookie.  At the midnight check, she had a 102 and they treated it with Motrin and she actually didn't have another temperature until around 9 and it was a 101.  The nurses on the Women & Children's floor were all so nice and loved on Samee, who of course soaked it all up.

We were also lucky that JM can download Yo Gabba Gabba on his phone.  We watched a lot of Yo Gabba Gabba. 

She did so well in the hospital.  She stayed with me on the hospital bed for most of the time and just relaxed and chilled out.  We let her walk around a little bit but as long as she was content to chill out we encouraged it.  Having a toddler on an I.V. is a little more tricky than I thought it would be.  They move fast and you don't when you're trying to judge the speed with the I.V. pole.

Dr. Stoltz came in around 8 the next morning to talk with us.  Even though the 2 E.R. doctors told us viral pnemonia, he didn't agree. He thought her lungs looked very clear and great and said that the temperature was from some viral infection.  Our instructions were to watch her temperature closely and if she had another seizure to bring her back in immediately but that an ambulance wasn't necessary for the most part.

I stayed home that day (Wednesday) but sent her back with Aunt Dixie on Thursday.  I would have liked to have stayed home but wanted to save my sick days incase we have a repeat occurance.  Aunt Dixie can give her tylenol and motrin as well as I can, and I think Dixie enjoys the cuddling just as much too.

Friday: We still kept her on fever reducer and she did fine.  She slept quite a bit but I think that is from the medication and of course being sick.

Saturday:  She seemed all peppy so we did a little shopping.  While shopping, I thought she was starting to feel warm and she was acting kind of sluggish so I gave her a dose of Tylenol and headed home soon after.  She took a really long afternoon nap and then was all kinds of peppy.  She crashed around 7:30 after her bath. Hopefully we are on the way to recovery.  Febrile seizures are no fun and I will never forget the look or really non-look in her eyes when it happened. 

Children really do cause gray hair.