Vacation Adventures

I would love to fill this post with photos like this one...

On the shore of Lake Michigan. Unfortunately, we had a bit of a different adventure last night that ended with a stay in the PICU at a local hospital in Michigan. 

Yesterday, Wyatt was a little "off". My mom radar (Spidey Sense?) was going off and I was concerned that maybe he was coming down with something. We listened to his lungs and heard some wheezing, so I called our nurse back home and asked for her suggestion. Our choices were limited since we weren't at home and it was 7pm. I debated about taking him to an urgent care facility to get an X-ray to see if he had any pneumonia or something else going on in his lungs. We also took his temp, which was only 99.4. For him that's a little warmer than normal, so we gave some Motrin and got him ready for bed. He was extra fussy and just not himself, but we were trying to avoid an ER visit since it's not our normal Hopkins peeps who know him. 

Fast forward a few hours later, around 9:15, and we heard him cough an unusual cough. My Spidey Sense was on high alert and we chose to grab him out of bed to assess the situation and take his temp. I took him off BiPAP to hold him and get his temp. His temp had risen to 103.6, after a dose of Motrin. We knew we needed to have him seen. I was getting ready to set him down to change my clothes (hello, pajamas) and pack up our hospital bag. As I was doing that, he began to have a seizure. It was very alarming, as he shook in my arms and turned a nasty shade of gray. Thank goodness Brian is much calmer in emergency situations and his first responder training kicked in. He told my mom to call 911 and we sprung into action to attempt intervention. Brian was beginning chest compressions and we threw on BiPAP since it would force air into his lungs for us. 

Not even 4 minutes later, the first set of responders showed up. Thank goodness for growing up in a small town, as the first two people who showed up were people we knew. They got him stable and took over while the rest of the crew, including multiple ambulances and fire trucks showed up and assisted. We got him set up and transported him to the local ER. 

He had a febrile seizure, which is a seizure from a high fever. Likely it has nothing to do with epilepsy/neurological complications, and was simply the result of a high fever. They chose to admit him since he's a complicated case and wanted to speak to his team at Hopkins. Our pulmonologist happened to be on call so she walked them through his typical care plan and we were admitted into the PICU. He slept comfortably and we were discharged this afternoon. His fever is likely the result of a virus and he needs to fight it. We will continue to keep him comfortable with fever meds and will monitor for any additional signs of seizures. Our follow up will be with our team back home. For now we will continue vacation here and just take it easy. Someone has to float in the pool and soak up the sun! 

Resting easy in the PICU. As you can see he was very comfortable! 

His afternoon has consisted of lots of snuggles from his grandmas and a nice nap in his Nana's arms. 

We remain hopeful that he can continue to fight the virus at home (well, Nana's home) with no additional seizures. We welcome your prayers for a full recovery and a smooth rest of vacation.