Today was one of my scariest days as a mom.
At about 2:30 pm today, I received a call from the school nurse. The kids get out of school at 3:30 pm and so I was a bit surprised to be receiving a call. The nurse said that Alexander was in the office and he was having a bit of a meltdown. She then went on to explain to me that Alexander thought he saw a spider on his shoe in class and that the teacher, the Principal, and the nurse all had to work to reassure Alexander that the spider was gone. No one actually saw the spider, but Alexander was adamant.
The nurse said that Alexander was pretty traumatized by the event and asked me to come in to get him. When I got to the school just a few minutes later, Alexander was sitting on one of the beds in the nurse’s office in a fetal position with his right shoe and sock off.
While I was there talking to him, he swore he saw a spider. He was so absolutely petrified and he completely froze. The nurse quickly jumped up and turned on the overhead light so that Alex could see more clearly. I was rubbing my finger on the spot where he saw the spider to help reassure him that there was not a spider there, yet he remained adamant.
I went ahead and got Ava out of class a little early because I wasn’t sure what my evening was going to hold. I managed to convince Alexander to put his sock back on and then we all walked out to the car. At that point I was near tears and I did not have a clue what I should do.
I ended up calling the pediatrician’s office and managed to make an appointment for 3:50 (by now it was nearly 3:00 pm). After that I called my dad because Dave was out-of-reach and I just had no clue what to do. I wasn’t sure if the pediatrician would be of any help or if I should go to the children’s hospital.
Parents think about it. If your child were suddenly hallucinating, what would you do? I was petrified.
Once I got home, I decided to call the neurologist. Thankfully he was in his office and so I got to immediately speak with him. After I told him Alex’s symptoms he explained to me that they were simple partial seizures. I asked him if he was sure it was neurological as opposed to psychological because Alexander has full recollection of the events and was still absolutely petrified.
The neurologist reassured me that this is one way that simple partial seizures can manifest and that for the person experiencing the seizures, the hallucinations are most definitely real. He told me that all I can do is to reassure Alex that he is, indeed, having a seizure.
The neurologist called in a prescription for Tegretol to add to Alex’s Keppra. Alex was originally diagnosed with complex partial seizures in summer 2008 and has yet to truly have full seizure control.
When I got off the phone with the neurologist I just wanted to cry. I was so absolutely frightened that my sweet eight-year old was having a psychotic break while I watched helplessly. He had a few more episodes this evening but he is now sleeping restfully.
I can only hope that this medicine helps my little boy. I have spoken with the teachers and the nurse at the school who were all equally frightened by the event. They are glad to know that his doctor and I are on top of it and taking measures to help prevent this from happening again.
Tomorrow Alex will stay home with me. I don’t want him to have to go through another day like he did today.
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{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
Oh, Mellie~
You know, something weird was going on today because I thought alot about you and Alex today. I’m just tearing up reading this because I know and can understand how scary this is, and yet sad at the same time. We, as parents (mommy especially) hate to just sit back and watch while our baby is living a nightmare. I’m just so sorry. I really hope the meds work well for Alex and thank God he hasn’t had a full blown seizure. I hope he never does….talk about helpless. Just make sure to follow up with your doctors and be an advocate for Alex. I’d also write up a plan for the school teacher and nurse, letting them know what you want done incase this happens again. I’d also have Alex wear a medic alert bracelet/watch if he doesn’t already. I just got Cammie a neon green medic alert watch that she actually likes. Please, please, please let me know if you have any questions or even if you just need to vent or cry. It’s so hard. Hang in there and give Alex a big hug for us.
Sara
How scary for you, Mama! I’m so sorry you and Alex had such a rough day. I hope the medicine helps him and that both you and he have a peaceful night and an uneventful tomorrow!
I’m so sorry. I can’t imagine how scary that must have been. I hope they get the medicine dosage right soon.
Hi Melissa
I can totally understand what Alex was going through, and I am so glad you are an understanding parent. I am now 43 and have suffered from TLE (Temporal Lobe Epilepsy) and simple partial seizures ever since I can remember. I had some very scary hallucinations as a child, but these where laughed off as imagination and “looking for attention”. Yet to me these experiences where very real. I can only explain it as if there where two movies playing out at the same time. One in real time while the other overlaid the real time film with it’s special effects.
I am currently writing a book about my experiences as a TLE sufferer, more from a patient point of view than a medical point of view. It took me forty years to find out that the anomalies I was experiencing, was in fact from my own brain.
Would it be possible to use this experience from Alex in my book? If so, then I would love to share the completed book with you when completed.
Thank you so much for sharing this experience with us on the internet.
Thank you for sharing your experience Robin. You’ve given me some insight into what Alexander was likely experiencing. I’ve also responded to you privately via email.