Update on Ryan

For those of you who haven't heard I wanted to fill you in on Ryan. Monday night I had just drifted off when I awoke to hear Ryan crying a very strange cry at about 10:15. When I walked into his room he was still doing the strange cry and was tossing around in his bed. I automatically thought he was going to get sick so I ran in and scoped him up and carried him to the bathroom. He was unable to stand and when he tried to talk, it didn't make any sense and it seemed like his tongue was swollen. I knew something was wrong so I called Christopher and asked him to hurry home because Ryan was acting so strange. By the time Christopher got home (about 10:30), Ryan was just about back to normal. We were not sure what happened but figured that he must have been sleepwalking.

The next morning at breakfast, Ryan was sitting in his chair across from me eating his cereal when he suddenly stiffened up and fell sideways out of his chair. I grabbed him and handed him to Christopher as he started having (what we now know was) a seizure. His eyes rolled back, his body stiffened and relaxed over and over and he started making a low guttural sound in his throat. Christopher held him and I called 911. The seizure lasted about a minute and then he started doing the same strange cry from the night before. When the firefighters and paramedics arrived he was still crying but was acting more normal except that his balance and speech was off. They told us that unless he had another episode in the ambulance or in the ER, they couldn't do much for him other than to tell us to follow up with our doctor as soon as possible.

After spending the day on pins and needles and trying to keep a constant eye on Ryan, we took him to his appointment at 1:30. After spending almost two hours in the office, the doctor agreed that Ryan had two seizures and that it was a cause for concern. We also discussed my family history of seizures. The doctor scheduled a MRI, an EEG, and gave us the number to make an appointment with a pediatric neurologist at the Children's Hospital in Denver.

Ryan had the MRI last night and was such a courageous little boy. We were put in a little room without a bed or chair for about two hours before they finally put him in a bed and ushered Christopher and I back to the waiting room. Since you have to be completely still for about an hour during the MRI, they had to put him under anesthesia to put him to sleep. He was very cheerful and showed no fear. The hardest part was that he wasn't allowed to eat or drink anything before the MRI so it ended up being almost 10 hours before they finally gave him a Popsicle. He was very excited when they wheeled him out of the hospital in a race car wheelchair.

He is doing fine today but a little disappointed that he can not have any sugar until after his EEG tomorrow morning. We will have to keep him awake until midnight tonight and then keep him awake from four in the morning until the EEG at 7:30. It may be very difficult because when Ryan gets tired, he will fall asleep anywhere. Luckily, Christopher is used to working nights and we are trying to plan fun things for them to do.

So far he has gone over 24 hours without a seizure and has been a real trooper through it all. We have a follow up appointment at the Children's Hospital in two weeks.

Anyone have any suggestions on how to get the medical tape goo off of skin? I have scrubbed and rubbed but I can't get it all off.