The Calm After the Storm

Remember when you were a kid and your school closed for a snow day, before going to bed? Not only was this instant bliss that no alarm was set, but you could sleep peacefully without worrying about school. The night before a school snow day was always my favorite. It was also the best time to go sledding- in the dark, when the night sky was lit from the clouds, and the snow reflecting off the ground gave the appearance of a blanket of white. The sound of silence with a faint sound of snowflakes hitting my jacket as I stood outside, was the absolute best.

I often find myself having this peaceful feeling early in the morning each day. People always ask why I get up so early: between 4-4:30 AM daily. I soak in the calmness early in the morning and while the rest of the house sleeps, I can take a hot shower in silence. The best.

This week however, whenever I have these quiet moments, the lack of noise is excruciating. I am panicked and frequently checking the “Nanny Cam”, to make sure that Greyson is okay (and breathing). The seizure two weeks ago really threw me off balance, but the two additional Emergency Department visits have really topped the cake.

Saturday, we had a normal day at home. Breakfast, showers (baths for the kids) and we were out the door to run errands and to attend the CADD staff picnic. Roslynn was especially looking forward to the picnic, since I made her aware there would be a bounce house for the kids. After running some errands, we made it to the picnic. Unfortunately, because G was having a tough day, we ended up staying for only about an hour-just long enough to let Roslynn bounce and for Greyson to watch the first half of “Toy Story” in the car, with Derek and the A/C cranked.

After the picnic, we stopped over at my parents house for a quick visit to say hello. Once we were there, Greyson began to act odd. I didn’t think anything of it, especially since he was still thrown off a bit from the previous seizure, a week prior. At both our house and my parents house, Greyson doesn’t have a difficult time with steps. He knows to crawl or hold on tightly when going up, and to go down the steps on his bum. Saturday however, Greyson appeared to have a difficult time with the steps and tumbled down half a flight of steps at my parent’s house.

Greyson is a trooper. He can handle a lot for a little guy, so when he began to cry/scream, I knew something wasn’t quite right. We took the kids home and got dinner ready and right before we sat down to eat, there Greyson is, falling down the entire flight of steps. Because he typically goes up and down those steps several times and hour without falling, I knew something wasn’t right. When Greyson stood up, he looked like he was intoxicated: glassy eyes, no coordination whatsoever and he was really distant and defiant, basically falling over his own feet.

After much internal debating, I ended up calling Dr. Comi’s personal cell phone line. To my surprise, she answered and was willing to chat with me about what was going on. She informed me that it would be best for Derek and I to take him to the ER for some bloodwork, imaging and observation. So at 6:30 pm, Derek and I drop Roslynn off at my parents house (again), with her emergency overnight bag that we compiled after Greyson’s first seizure happened, and high tailed it down to the ER at Lancaster General.

Note to self, do not ever go to an emergency room in a city on a Saturday night. The characters that were at the emergency room were quite interesting. Greyson was throwing a scene because he was tired and did not like to be confined to one small area of the waiting room, so he decided it would be best to scream the whole time. A nurse in the waiting room saw our struggle with Greyson, and brought out a coloring page and some crayons and she began to speak to Greyson as if he were a neurologist-typical child. It still shocks me to know that Emergency Rooms cannot manage (and honestly have no idea) how to interact with non-verbal, autistic children. Though the nurse had good intentions, I knew that Greyson is unable to hold a crayon unless he is eating it, so I told her that she should give the coloring page and crayons to someone that would use them. I think that the other patients began to get annoyed, so they took us back almost instantly after the crayon situation ended.

Once we were back in the room, another staff member came in to begin registration for him. They confirmed his information was the same (since we were there just two weeks prior), and got him set up with an identification bracelet and ordered labs to be drawn. If you have ever been to an emergency room, you know that things do not move very quickly. In the midst of waiting for the phlebotomist to come up and draw his blood, Greyson began to get very anxious and angry that he was confined to a small room. He quickly became aggressive: hitting, pulling hair, smacking, pinching, biting and head butting Derek and I any time he was redirected or picked up. He threw a giant tantrum, which wiped him out. He fell asleep almost at the same time that the lab techs came in to draw blood.

Surprisingly, he slept through everything up until the pinch of the needle piercing his skin. That really pissed him off. Despite their best efforts, neither phlebotomist that attempted the labs, was successful in getting his blood. So we waited again. This time, the veteran of the lab came up to try.

I’m convinced all mothers have a superpower that allows them to know their children’s needs at all times, so I knew this man would not get his sample unless Greyson was sitting upright. I told him this, and he proceeded to give me a yeah right look. So, Derek hopped up into the hospital bed and held Greyson as the man successfully drew blood from Greyson’s arm. Told you so.

Another nurse came in a bit later and collected the small adhesive baggy we placed in his diaper for a urine sample. By now, Greyson was awake and extremely angry. We waited for about another hour or so until we got some preliminary lab results and Dr. Comi was able to review them with the ER docs. She gave us the all-clear to go home and observe him.

Happy he is done getting poked

Flash forward to Monday evening.

After work, Roslynn and I had a tour and meet-and-greet at the preschool she will start at in September. Greyson wasn’t going to make it through that, so Derek took him home. After the tour, Roslynn and I played over at the park across the street and stopped over at my parent’s house, which is about 3 blocks from the school. Almost as soon as I sat down to talk to my dad, Derek called and said Greyson was having another big seizure. Unlike last time, G was still breathing and his convulsions weren’t as severe. After three minutes, Derek administered his emergency seizure meds, which slowed the seizure. He ended up calling 911 because he was unconscious for a bit and kept falling over whenever he attempted to stand up.

I pulled up to the house as the ambulance was driving away, but from the driveway, I could hear Duke barking and whining. For the second time, Duke made it known to Derek that something was wrong with Greyson. I literally could never get rid of this dog now. Haha.

I rushed over the the ER with Greyson’s emergency bag and made some calls to arrange childcare for Roslynn. I got to the hospital and went back to Greyson’s room immediately.

He gets so tired after seizures

Greyson was asleep for some time, until the lab sent staff up to get some samples. The same issues happened as Saturday evening, so the tech ended up pricking his finger and filling up a small tube with the blood from his finger tip. It seemed like hours until the doctor leaveon staff came in. He saved us from an EKG, which would have never happened because G can’t keep the sticky things on to save his life, and he sent us on our way with a follow up neurology appointment with our local neurologist. We will travel to Baltimore on the 19th for a followup and hopefully have his EEG completed before we head off to SC for vacation. Dr. Comi wants him to get an MRI as well, but we won’t get that done until after our trip.

So, all in all, after 3 trips to the hospital, G’s meds were increased and he had some appointments set up to followup with the neurologists. We are still trying to find the trigger for the seizures and the right med/dosage for his anticonvulsants. Hoping we have some more answers by our trip in two weeks. We are also hoping the increase in medicine will help keep things quiet around the Martin house, and really optimistic that we will figure out the trigger of the seizures.

I also want to say how thankful we are for great family, friends and coworkers that have checked in on us and G. It means so much to us that so many people care about us and are so supportive of our journey with Greyson. We couldn’t do this alone, and even the smallest gesture is incredibly helpful for our spirits and overall outlook on this difficult time.