Oh, now I remember!

I am hyper-sensitive when Lainie gets sick with even the simplest of colds, but had forgotten why. This weekend reminded me. (warning: this is not for those with an aversion to snot, vomit, or other fluids.)

Lainie got a cold, some sort of virus, that produced lots of snot. She doesn't blow her nose, like most kids her age, and the nasty stuff went down her throat instead.

All that mucus in her stomach made her start vomiting. I know it was the cause because that's all that's come up: lots of mucus. (My classmates who know my aversion to mucus KNOW how awful that was to see.)

Because she kept vomiting, she also vomited up her anti-seizure medicine that she takes each night. This is one of those medicines that you MUST take every night, or risk serious side effects. So, after seeing the undissolved pills in the toilet, I called the on-call pediatrician who said to give them again, just once more, and hope she absorbs some medicine.

That's when I got a clear picture of why medical professionals don't take care of their own family members. I was in pure mom mode, and it was Jay who thought to take the medicine out of the capsule, mix it with applesauce, and give it a better chance of absorbing. So, she got her second dose of zonegran, which came back up after 20 minutes.

This is a double-blow, because illnesses trigger her seizures, and she just lost the safety net to prevent them. All we can do is hope, pray, watch and wait.

Taken last night

Today, no tonic-clonic seizures, which was the optimal hope last night. She's been awake all of about 15 minutes today, but isn't dehydrated. She was just able to keep down about 1/4 cup of applesauce and about that much apple juice. She is talking to me now. That's the good news.

The bad news is, what looks like seizure activity in her legs. She says she can't control it and can't stop it. That makes me so sad for her. For the nurses out there, her pain is still localized to the right eye and right side of her skull, and her right pupil is sluggish but reactive. And, she is very slow to follow any commands, her left eye is half-closed and she's unable to open her eyes wide.

All because of a simple, stupid cold.