I have debated on whether or not to post this- but I know that I want to remember what happened this weekend and I know our little girl will want to know what happened when she is older.
My parents rented a cabin at Fish Lake in the Bowery Haven Resort campground. Everyone else got there early afternoon on Friday. Colby didn't get done with Chemistry and clinicals until around 5 and I had to be in St. George for a recertification till 4-ish. So we didn't make it up there until around 8. But the kids made up for lost time!
They had so much fun jumping and playing on the air mattress- it was entertaining just to watch the three of them.
Saturday morning Brian, Kristy, and their kids had to leave bright and early to make it back to Kristy's sister Brinlee's baptism and they had Drex's blessing the next day- so they had a lot to do! I don't think any of the kids slept very good except Brailynn (Brock and Dani's baby).
After a great breakfast of waffles, eggs, and ham, we went to the lake to try to snag some fish! Our first location didn't deliver.
So we ventured up to Johnson's reservoir which is several miles past Fish Lake. Yet again, we had no luck with the fishin'......
See that boat dock past Maisa......that's where we decided to try next.......
Maisa caught a pretty big sucker fish and a couple perch. Colby decided to bust out the Barbie pole to test it's luck! It is hard to believe that this is just moments before it all got chaotic.
While we were on the dock and Colby was getting the pink fish slayer ready- Mill started acting tired- which didn't surprise me since she went to bed late and was up a few times and up early...... She grabbed her blanket and had her bink and crawled up on my lap. That's when it went bad- Colby had felt a bite and was reeling in a little fish. Normally, she would have wanted to go and see it..... I set her down to try to get her to go see it.....she just folded between my legs.....I picked her up and turned her around to look at her.....her eyes were open but she wasn't there....she wasn't breathing... she was completely flaccid....I started yelling, "Somethings wrong! Something's wrong!" She was very pale her lips were white. At first, Colby and my dad thought she was choking so Colby started doing back slaps then the heimlich. I tried to look in her mouth to see if she was really choking- her jaw was clenched. We laid her on her back and her lips were purple.....I couldn't feel a pulse.....all I could feel were tremors. I checked her brachial, carotid, and femoral. Colby started doing compressions. Then she started gasping. It wasn't a good gasp. I started thinking that maybe she had epiglottitis or something. But her pupils were so pinpoint and fixed and she wasn't responding to anything- and she was still trembling. We put her on her side- and just watched her for a few minutes. We kept putting our ears down to her chest to make sure her heart was still beating. Drool kept coming out of her mouth and then she threw up. She ended up throwing up a couple times. But at least she was breathing somewhat. After several more agonizing minutes- her jaw started to shift to the side and she started grinding her teeth but she still wan't conscious. Then I was thinking a stroke or something had caused the seizure. Colby ran and got some oil and came back and him and my dad gave her a blessing. Just a few seconds after that she muttered between her clenched teeth, "Daddy." She was still floppy and her pupils were still fixed and I couldn't get them to react with light. Then we saw that the Sheriff/EMT was almost there- he pulled in and then pulled back out- he hadn't seen us! It was such a discouraging moment- Brock and Dani jumped in their car while my dad held Brailynn to go chase him down. My mom, Colby, and I moved Mill up to the parking lot. She was still trembling, had a clenched jaw, but every once in a while she'd mutter daddy. After a couple more minutes, the Sheriff came back and had an oxygen tank with a non-rebreather mask and she seemed to start responding better once that was on. Not long after that the ambulance showed up and we got her strapped in a carseat on the gurney and loaded in the ambulance. The crew was so nice and one of them came and gave me a hug.
Maisa had called 9-1-1 at the beginning of it all but they had to come from Koosherom. Once the ambulance crew gets to their bay it is a 12 minute drive to the lake (the driver told all this to me on the drive to Richfield) and then they have to go past it to Johnsons. We figure the episode lasted around 20-25 min- at least the unconsciousness. But it still took her a while to start really responding.
When we were strapping her into the carseat she was gripping my mom's finger really tight and just a few minutes before that I couldn't get her to grip my hand at all.
We had tried to check a temp at one point with a little thermometer that Dani had in her diaper bag but her teeth were so clenched that I don't think we really got an accurate reading. She hadn't felt warm all morning and I had been feeling cause her friend at daycare got diagnosed with strep the day before and had a fever. But when she was laying on her side she felt warm. In the ambulance and at the hospital her temp was relatively normal.
In the ambulance she started talking to the crew and getting fisty with them. I could tell she was exhausted (They had me sit in the front with the driver). By the time they got her out of the ambulance at the hospital- she was looking much better!
At the hospital, they did a CBC with diff, a CMP, and a CT. Her glucose, sodium, potassium, and everything was normal. A radiologist was in house (which really surprised me) and he read the CT and it was normal. The only thing that was a little off were her liver enzymes that were just slightly elevated suggesting maybe a little dehydration. She hadn't eaten hardly anything all morning but she had been drinking okay. We were only in the ER for 1 1/2 before everything was done and we were able to discharge. Dr. Pope called Primary's and consulted with a neurologist up there- he was worried because of how long the seizure lasted. He said he wouldn't have been as concerned if it was just 3-5 minutes- but he wanted to check with a neurologist to make sure he didn't need to start her on meds. The neurologist didn't think it was necessary. Because it can take up to 3-4 months to get in with an neurologist, Primary's gave them a number for their Fast-track Neuro Clinic that I am supposed to call on Tuesday to set up an appointment. They are hopeful with that, that I should be able to get her in to be seen within a few weeks.
So- we still have no idea what caused this scary episode but we have been keeping a close eye on her ever since- she has been sleeping with us and we wake up a lot to check on her. But I am trying to remain optimistic that this was a one time occurrence! I had a febrile seizure when I was 16 mos but it only lasted a few minutes and it never happened again.
(Here we are in the waiting room at the Richfield Hospital after we were discharged surrounded by lots of family that were worried for our little munchkin! Grandma and Grandpa Moody, Grandma Bliss, Brock, Dani and Brailynn, Maisa, Chelise, Ronnie and Brody)
It is the most heart-wrenching thing in the entire world to feel your child life-less in your arms. That was the longest half hour of our entire lives! It goes so slow that you can't help but think the worst. One thing that kept going through my mind was that I couldn't see the "circles" in her eyes like normal. She loves to tell me about the circles (AKA pupils) in her eyes when she is looking in the mirror. I didn't know what I was going to do if I could never hear her talk again or give me a hug. I am so grateful that I had my dad and Colby there to give her a blessing- I know it made all the difference. I could never explain to them my gratitude for living in such a way that they can use their priesthood responsibilities in moments of crisis. This could have happened anywhere but I am so grateful we were surrounded by competent family when it did- even though we were so far away from medical attention! And I have started making a list of things I need to keep in my car including- STETHOSCOPE, pulse oximeter, AED, at least a bulb suction- if not better suction equipment, a temporal thermometer, and I'm sure I'll think of more. But those things would have been very handy in this case!
I understand completely how parents become irrational in these situations- I have seen many seizures and code situations (mainly with adults however) and have been a nurse for several years; but this time, all I could do was cry. This was my baby girl! I am so glad Colby was able to react appropriately.
She had a postictal phase- was very tired and took a little nap on my chest in the ER. She was pretty twitchy. After the ER, we went south a few blocks to Ronnie and Chelise's to rest for a bit. But our little girl wasn't resting! She was running, laughing, playing, and making me soooo happy! I was so glad to see her that way. Needless to say- she has been pretty spoiled since then! I have given her pretty much whatever she wants!! We want to thanks everyone for the love, support, calls, and well wishes....and especially the prayers on behalf of Hayden.
This Fish Lake trip was definitely eventful- to say the least- but it is not tainted! We had fun and plan on going back up to that peaceful country again in the future.
