A few weeks into 2018 my son had a seizure. We did not know it was a seizure at the moment and we spent the day in the ER having all sort of tests and bloodwork done on him. Although it was an interesting way to start the new year, we decided that we were going to make the best of 2018 and not let his condition prevent us from having a great year.
Well, here we are at the beginning of 2019 and we made another trip to the ER and my son has been admitted. This time we stayed overnight and are looking at another night at the hospital. Before I get ahead of myself, let me start at the beginning.
A few weeks ago, my son had eye drainage and small swelling due to a cold that he was having. He was put on eye drops and within a couple days his eye was back to normal. Everything was fine and we started planning what to do during the winter break and listing the movies and museums we can visit. My wife was off for the week and I was able to get a few days off of work. I switched one day with a co-worker so I had a total of 5 days off. My wife and I were excited, my kids were excited and then the fevers started.
On Sunday, the day before NYE, my son had a fever and his body was burning up. We gave him some ibuprofen and that worked to break the fever and he was back to normal for a few hours. His fever would spike again toward the night and it was on and off like that for a few days. We knew he was fighting something but just did not know what it was. We thought it could be the flu since this time around he was more miserable and just had no energy, but we were hoping that by monitoring it and giving him his medicine he would fight it and go back to normal.
On Wednesday we saw his eye getting a little puffy, but it was like how it was before. At around 4 in the morning on Thursday, he woke up complaining about his eye and his fever was high again. We gave him his medicine and he fell asleep and woke up with his eye red and swollen shut. I took him to his doctor and she felt it would be better to take him to the ER and get him started on an IV treatment than prescribing him medication for the infection in case it was something more serious.
I called my wife as I headed to the ER and told her what was happening. After he was checked in and looked at, we were told he would have to be on IV antibiotics for 24 hours and we were going to stay the night and have to be admitted. Just like the first time, my son was a trooper throughout the entire thing. My wife made it to the hospital just as he was about to get his IV and blood drawn, and instead of looking at my wife or me, he just stared as they put the IV into his hand. No screams, no flinching, just focused on what the nurse was doing. Talk about brave.
As I am writing this, I have barely slept since Thursday. Ask my wife, sleeping on these chairs/recliners is not that comfortable. We have been told that due to his cold there might have been a fluid build-up and that led to a bacterial infection around the eye. The antibiotics will need to be administered for another 24 hours, which means another overnight stay for us.
I want to go home with my son and do all of the things that we planned on doing as a family. I just wish that this had never happened, but that's the thing about parenting; we never know what is going to happen next. We will probably be here for most of the weekend and while I am trying to relax and be here for my son, my mind is starting to worry about the bills.
I am trying to focus on the now. Trying to focus on the memories that we are making in this room. I feel bad that my daughter is not able to be here with us because she falls under the age requirement to stay or even visit here. It was heartbreaking hearing my son say he misses her as they talked over the phone. Hopefully, we will be able to go home soon and at least have a fun family day and make the most out of their winter break.
My son has had a strange hand dealt to him. From his speech development to seizures and now this. I hope that things will be better for him in the future. As a parent, you always want the best for your children. You don't want them to have any issues. You pretty much want them to be perfect, but sadly that is not how the world works. I guess you and your children have to go through these tough times to see what kind of person you are going to be. I think all of these set-backs my son has is just going to make him a stronger person and help him appreciate what he has gone through to become a better person. We'll see what the future holds, but right now, I just want to go home and cuddle with my family on the couch and enjoy some quiet time.
Thank you for reading.
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