Sunday, May 09, 2010

Another Ambulance Ride!

Our weekend was not short of drama unfortunately. Miss Jenelle had some pretty bad seizures at the baseball field on Saturday and had to be transported by ambulance to the ER, where she was released two hours later. We don't know what brought them on, but the ER took a urine sample to make sure her UTI from two weeks ago was gone.

She had been acting fine in the morning on Saturday, and even participated in her Challenger game. She was happy during the game, but had been pretty cranky Friday evening, and shortly after the game. We couldn't quite figure out the crankiness, other than thinking she was hungry. Jack had a baseball game about an hour and a half after Jenelle's so she and I had waited for it to start hanging around the snack bar. Saturday was pretty warm.

Jack's game started around 11:30. I was supposed to keep score, but another parent who thought she had a commitment was able to take over for me. This turned out to be a good thing since I was able to be with Grandma and Grandpa when Jenelle started having seizures during the game. Coincidentally, Brett (who manages Jack's team) was watching the game from his car on a side street due to his being "suspended" from managing this game. That's another story in itself, but turned out to be a fortunate twist as he was able to go to the ER with Jenelle and me.

During the 3rd inning, I was helping the coaches with pitch count, and was near the score keeping booth. When the inning ended, I went back to sit with Grandma, Grandpa and Jenelle. Grandma motioned for me to be quiet because Jenelle had "fallen asleep." Jenelle was lying on the ground behind our chairs. Five or ten minute later, I noticed Jenelle moving as if she was trying to wake. I looked behind my chair to check on her and realized she was seizing. Grandma and I quickly got her comfortable and started to time the seizure. When she approached the 5 minute mark, Grandma told me to give her Diastat.

In my mind, I was hoping she would just come around again because I didn't want the distraction of calling 911 for Jack's team and because Brett wasn't allowed on the field. But when I realized that her seizure wasn't stopping, and that she could have been seizing when Grandma thought she was asleep, I figured it was better to be safe than sorry. When Jenelle had Diastat two weeks ago, her heart rate dropped as did her oxygen intake. Being in the middle of school grounds so far away from my car and home, it was a good decision. We gave Jenelle Diastat, and called 911.

Brett was able to open the gate and flag the ambulance onto the field so they could get to Jenelle. She was still non-responsive so they put her on oxygen. We decided that Brett should go in the ambulance with Jenelle to the ER, and I followed in my car. As it turned out, I beat the ambulance to the ER. Brett said her heart rate was very low and the ambulance actually used lights and sirens to get there (to my credit, I left before they were off the field.) I felt horrible for Jack as he was still playing his game, and could only watch. He's been so used to this in his lifetime that he handled it well. Grandma and Grandpa stayed behind to be with him.

At the ER they took blood and inserted an IV. Before they could get her on fluids, Jenelle started to wake and was pretty cranky. Because of her UTI two weeks ago, they took urine to get a culture and we should know the results tomorrow. Because she had no other signs of illness (fever, etc.) they didn't feel a need to run blood work. After an hour and a half, we were released. Jenelle has been sleepy and cranky ever since, but is doing fine.

We see Dr. Shields a week from Monday, so we have a lot of questions for him. We've had a wonderful and restful Sunday. The kids gave me some wonderful handmade gifts and we had a wonderful brunch with our family this morning.

Sadly, on Saturday evening we learned the news that our little league friend who had leukemia (I mentioned him earlier in the season) passed away around the same time Jenelle was transported to the ER. We are keeping the Abbey family in our thoughts and prayers. It has been a tough weekend for our Little League family, but we are so appreciative of all the love and support from everyone. Thanks again for the thoughts and prayers. I'll keep you posted.

3 comments:

ANewKindOfPerfect said...

That must have been frightening to realize that she was seizing and had been doing so for a while. I'm glad everything is okay now and that you were discharged quickly.

Anonymous said...

Good to read you will be seeing her neurologist (?) soon.

A couple of thoughts/questions - has she outgrown her dosage of anti-epileptics? Can a low blood sugar (need to eat) cause seizures?

Glad to read she has recovered each time. Sorry to read of your friend's loss.

Best, Barbara

Fantastagirl said...

I hope you get the answers you need to your questions. Keeping you and your family in our prayers!