Medical Emergencies - I Guess You've Just Got To Laugh...

by Stephanus 4 Replies latest jw friends

  • Stephanus
    Stephanus

    My eldest son (13) has been fainting quite often recently and "fitting" along with it. He was put through a series of tests a couple of weeks ago at the emergency room, including a CAT scan, but they failed to show any signs of epilepsy - he's booked in for an EEG in a month. Yesterday was the first day in a week we sent him to school, but at recess he fainted again and the school reckons he was "fitting". The ambulance was called and his mother accompanied him to the hospital. After 5 hours of waiting around with no attention, he was discharged with a "He'll grow out of it". That's all well and good, but if the school sends him home or to hospital every time it happens (quite frequently lately - why?), how much education is he going to receive while we're waiting for him to "grow out of it"? The home liaison (truancy) officer has already been sniffing around, but fortunately the school told her about the fact that while we've been trying hard to make sure he's at school, they've been the ones sending him home (not just for fainting - he dinged his knee in earlier this term and also was sent home with impetigo, which took a week to recover from).

    What's to laugh at? Well yesterday, while waiting for the ambulance, my son's friends were allowed to miss class and wait with him. Well, kids being kids, my son was surprised to find he had about 650 close friends!

  • talesin
    talesin

    You must be really worried about him.

    Has he been to your GP? Are you going to get him referred to a neurologist? Please keep us posted. I will be thinking about you.

    Kids, huh? Any excuse to skip school. Either that, or he is the most popular guy in the history of high school!

    talesin

  • Stephanus
    Stephanus
    Has he been to your GP? Are you going to get him referred to a neurologist?

    Yep, he's been to the GP (who said "He'll grow out of it"). But the good news is that tomorrow he's booked in to see a new paediatrician; the last paediatrician helped change the course of this particular son's asthma, to the point whereby you could now say that he's "grown out of it", so let's hope history repeats itself here.

    Kids, huh? Any excuse to skip school. Either that, or he is the most popular guy in the history of high school!

    Heh, heh! Yep, kids are the ultimate opportunists - I love the way they can spot inconsistencies and loopholes a mile off! The "650" figure is a bit of an exxageration; still, my son was still surprised at just who his "close and dear" friends turned out to be, after yesterday!

  • talesin
    talesin

    Good, I'm glad you're pursuing it!

    On a positive note, I used to have the same thing when I was in junior high for a couple of years. They never did figure it out, and I'm in my 40s now. No problems like that since. I didn't want to mention it in my first comment, not to downplay what may be a real problem.

    As I said, keep us posted. I hope he is okay in the long run.

    tal

  • SusanHere
    SusanHere

    Seizure activity in an otherwise healthy child is NOT normal. You need to stop listening to GP's and take him to a Neurologist. If you can, find one who specialized in pediatric neurology. Not to frighten you, but seizures are basically short circuits in the brain and can literally fry a child's brain. I've seen it happen.

    As for the EEG, yes, he needs one. But remember... a negative EEG test doesn't mean anything more than THEY DIDN'T CAPTURE SEIZURE ACTIVITY AT THAT TIME. It does not mean he isn't having seizures. It simply means they didn't catch it at that time.

    With EEGs, a positive test, meaning they caught activity, is always positive for seizure activity, but a negative means nothing, zero, zilch.

    Please insist they sedate your child during the test. It is during the transitions from wake to sleep and back again that activity is most often caught. If he lays there wide awake, they are more likely to miss it.

    I was a neuro tech for years, so I have some experience here.

    Good luck and God bless.

    Susan

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