Squirt Bottles

Our follow-up appointment with the pediatrician was this morning. It went very very well. I was quite pleased with the whole experience. I could go on to write a long post about socialized heath care right now, but that's not why I'm posting and definitely not the purpose of this blog....I digress... Today was very informative. We now know that a seizure is a possibility. Is there also a possibility that my precious child will never seize again? Yes. Fortunately, the doctor took the time to explain to me how to try to avoid the breath-holding in turn, avoiding another seizure. There could always be the chance of something happening (i.e. bumping of noggin, stubbing of toe, etc....) that breath-holding is a very real possibility. However, there are times when her attitude simply gets the best of her. Our options at that point are: getting a cold cloth and placing that on her neck, forcefully puffing air into her face at close proximity, anything that may startle her would very likely make her take a breath. It has been suggested to me to "fling" water into her face by a couple of different people. My question to the doctor: Is this helpful, harmful, or just cruel? Her response was: Don't feel bad about a little water in her face when you know the alternative.

My reaction? I give to you exhibit A:

This will be filled with plain filtered water, kept in close proximity at all times, and (yes) shot in the face of my screaming toddler poor defenseless child. I will be fashioning a holster of sorts to keep this "on me" at all times. There will be another placed in her diaper bag for times when she's left with others and the importance of using it will be stressed until she is to the point that the breath-holding is far FAR behind her. An encouraging note, often kids that induce a seizure with breath-holding will be scared out of ever doing it again. The unfortunate thing about that statement, we have an extremely strong willed child who began her breath-holding plight at a mere 6 months of age; very early for a condition such as this. With that being said, she's more than likely not old enough to have any clue about what has taken place. If you have been a witness to one of her episodes you can be certain she's not doing any of this purposefully. There you have it, how to prevent breath-holding in a child. As I mentioned earlier, these episodes are not 100% preventable. What then??

If she does in fact stop breathing, we have been instructed to lay her gently onto the floor for two reasons. The first: making a behavioral statement, when you act like this you are not going to be coddled (keep in mind, 85% of the time she's ticked). The second: it is what is medically best for her. In the supine (face up flat on your back) position the heart has the advantage to pump plenty of blood and oxygen to the deprived brain resulting in decreased odds of any seizure activity. And further on from that...what if that doesn't prevent the seizure? Then we are to place her onto her right side, preventing aspiration if vomiting does occur. Normally they tell people that after someone has been seizing for 5 minutes call 9-1-1. With our being 35 miles from the nearest hospital and having a volunteer ambulance, the moment and seizing begins we've been instructed to call immediately. She also said that if it goes over 5 minutes again and she stops on her own, still take the ambulance to the ER. They have the oxygen that she might need, they'd be able to evaluate her and be in close contact with a doctor at the hospital.

If all of this sounds a bit scary that's because....it is! And in scary situations, you need to know just what to do. I feel confident in what the doctor has told me and less terrified of one of these episodes coming on again. I will still continue to pray that she will grow out of this quickly. And will always be cautious when she starts to cry for any reason. As for the EEG the results came back perfectly, well as far as the pediatrician and neurologist are concerned...a psycologist may have a differing opinion! Keep in mind, my husband and I are her biological parents.

By the way...I need a baby sitter next weekend. Anyone interested?