Strep Times Three, and a Seizure Please

So these last couple of weeks have definitely been probably one of the worst weeks in my life...

The last day of Jeff's parents' visit, Alex started running a fever and by the next morning it was at 105°F (yes 105, it's not a typo). Fortunately, Jeff's parents could stay a little longer and watch the twins so that I could take him to see a doctor.

Diagnosis...Alex has Strep Throat! (#1) So he gets put on antibiotics and we go on our merry way. Over the next 3 days his fever keeps coming back up to near 105 eventhough he's taking the antibiotics and we keep pumping him full of Tylenol and Motrin. By the 4th day when his fever just does not want to break and I get a reading of 105.7°F...I take him to the ER and they put him on a different antibiotic (IV of course) and that finally seems to work. He stays at home for a few more days and eventually gets back to his wild self again.

A few days later, as I come back from work, I get greeted by a nasty surprise...As I walk in the door into the kitchen...our nanny is holding Matt who appears to have been crying. As she says that he just woke up from his nap and is super cranky with a slight fever...Matthew has the "Exorcist Moment"...he starts vomiting all over her (and I mean all over...her hair, her clothes...you get the picture). I don't know for whom to feel more sorry...Matthew for being sick or the nanny for getting a "shower of her life".
The biggest irony in this whole situation...I was planning on firing our nanny when I walked in the door as our twins will be getting into Alex's pre-school soon. I just didn't have the heart to tell her right at that moment (I waited a couple of days).

So after the vomiting, Matthew seems to feel 100% better and I hold him on the couch for a little bit. As I hold him and he rests his head on my shoulder he appears to get a chill...but then I realize that this is something much more as the shaking doesn't stop. As I pull him away from me, I see what I hope no parent ever has to see...Matthew is having a seizure! and as he starts turning gray and does not appear to be breathing, I dial 911 and I try my best to stay collected so as to not to scare Alex and Zach. The seizure lasts about 4 minutes, after which Matt loses consiousness, and as I prepare myself to have to do CPR to save my son's life, the ambulance arrives!

Within a minute or so, Matthew starts coming out of it and appears responsive. The paramedics indicate that he most likely had a febrile seizure (seizure due to a fever - eventhough his fever was less than 101) and they get him undressed to cool him off and they get him in the ambulance. With the nanny already gone and Jeff still at work, I load up Alex and Zach and follow the ambulance to the hospital, trying not to freak out knowing that Matthew is with complete strangers and there is nothing I can do at that moment.

Jeff meets us at the hospital and Matt endures all kinds of needle pricks, IV's and tests. At the end...they determine it was a febrile seizure most likely due to some virus...WRONG!!! A follow-up with our doctor the next day indicates that Matthew has Strep Throat! (#2). We get sent home with antibiotics, anti-seizure medication and directive to give him Tylenol/Motrin at the first sign of fever as it's possible to have another febrile seizure in the future. As it turns out...I had several such seizures when I was a baby...I don't know how my parent handled that.

So as we sleep on pins and needles worrying about Matthew having another seizure, I start feeling a sore throat. The next day I go to the doctors office...Diagonosis: I have Strep Throat! (#3) I end up staying home for 2 days as the fever and chills get the better of me. Although I'm finally feeling better today, the strep must have turned into tonsillitis as swallowing has become unbearable with my tonsils swollen and red.

So as you can tell by how late I make this post...I still can't sleep very well...constantly worried about Matthew having another seizure, but hopefully he will be back to normal soon.