I had spent the previous night in the hospital with my grandfather. He had been in the hospital for almost a week originally recovering from kidney failure due to severe dehydration. Once in the hospital he contracted a staff infection. My siblings and I were taking shifts to spend the nights in the hospital with him because when he is not in familiar surroundings his mind play tricks on him. I had come home later that day and spent the day with my boys, which I FULLY enjoy when I get them. We had played hard that day. Cayden had been fighting a what seemed to be a cold all week and we didn't really think much of it. Just sniffles and some coughing here and there. We went to be that night and the boys climbed into their own beds happily and fell right to sleep. Around midnight Cayden woke up and came into our bed. Jared noticed he was warm to the touch. A little while later Cayden's leg brushed against mine and it felt hot. I felt the rest of his body and he was on FIRE. however if you know Cayden at all you know that he HATES taking any sort of medicine. It is not a fight we ever take on because its just not worth it. His body fights off fevers really well.
Well at about 3am Jared woke up to sounds of Cayden that he thought meant Cayden was going to throw up. He tried to get Cayden out of our bed and to the bathroom. But Cadyen was on his hands and knees frozen on the foot of our bed. Jared got frustrated that he wouldn't move and finally picked him up and took him to the bathroom. I don't usually get up when Cayden throws up because Jared usually handles that and then they come back to bed. However, for whatever reason, (now I know it was the Holy Ghost) I got up and followed them into the bathroom. Cayden stood over the toilet in a daze and just drooling. I wiped his mouth and tried to talk to him but when he would respond to us I took a closer look. My whole body flushed hot and I said to Jared, "I think he's having a seizure". I told Jared to lay him on the floor on his side and keep talking to him and that I was calling 911.Then I asked him to give Cayden a blessing.I ran downstairs to get the thermometer and ran back up to check Cayden's temp. He was at 102.1. As I spoke to the 911 operator telling her where we lived all I could think about was my poor sweet boy lying on the bathroom floor and feeling helpless to do anything for him. I wanted Jared to keep talking to him because I know that when my brother has had seizures he said he can hear everything that goes on around him but he just can't talk back. I wanted Cayden to know that his Daddy and I were there and we were getting him the help that he needed. As I talked to the 911 operator we noticed Cayden was foaming at his mouth and that his lips and face were turning blue. His body was so rigid and his jaw was locked so we couldn't open much of an airway. The operator told me to stay calm and watch him and see if he started breathing again otherwise I was going to have to perform CPR. I couldn't imagine having to do CPR on my own child. I have plenty of training to do it and know that I could have but the thought of having to to it to my own son terrified me. After a few seconds Cayden returned to real shallow breathing and his color started coming back. Cayden kept falling asleep but Jared and I were so afraid that if he fell asleep that he wouldn't ever wake up again. Jared stayed on the floor with him talking to him and comforting and trying to keep him awake him while I watched for the paramedics to arrive. It took them about 8 minutes to get here. It felt like an eternity. Once they got there Cayden was a little more responsive. Jared carried him down to the stretcher that was waiting for him outside. What a horrific thing to watch your child be strapped to a stretcher. Jared rode in the ambulance with Cayden and I stayed home waiting for my mom to come to my house and stay with Jacob. He slept through EVERYTHING. I could believe that because he is such a light sleeper.
Once Cayden got to the hospital he was doing well. They gave him oxygen in the ambulance and once he got to the hospital they gave him Motrin to bring his fever down. By the time I reached the hospital and joined Jared and Cayden, Cayden seemed like his old self. He was happy and giggly and a little sleepy. The doctor explained to us that Cayden had had a FEBRILE SEIZURE. These types of seizures happen when a fever gets too high. I always thought the fever had to be 104 or 105 for a seizure to happen but our PCP told us that a seizure can happen in a very fast spike of a fever. The ER doctor assured us that there is no brain or organ damage associated with this type of seizure. I of course told her my concerns with him being around my grandfather who is in the same hospital at that point with a staph infection and my older brother who suffers from seizures because of a brain tumor. She assured me again that she was positive Cayden had had a febrile seizure and that there was nothing to be concerned about. She conducted a neuro exam and since Cayden walked himself to the bathroom and was perky she said he was just fine. We stayed a little longer in the ER so they could monitor his pulse/ox and Cayden was able to fall asleep for a bit. We left the hospital around 6:45am.
Once we got home we all crashed on the couches. Cayden was feeling better the next day and pleaded for us to take him to the park. We did. But once his body started heating up again we made him come back home. He was REALLY good about taking medicine to keep his fever down too.
We were so blessed that it wasn't something worse. I don't know what we would have done if we had lost him that night. I don't know if the images of the event will ever leave our minds but I do know that he is watched over and very blessed. He is such a special blessing in our home and we love him dearly. We thank our Heavenly Father every day for our sweet boys and thank Him for trusting us with them.
