Just When You Think You're in the Clear

Somewhere in the back of my mind I always knew that there was a possibility that yesterday could happen. As I was finishing lunch I got a phone call from my youngest son's teacher. She called to say that as they were coming in from lunch, my son's legs buckled under him, he turned pale white, and his lips started turning blue. His aide brought him into the classroom where it was obvious that he couldn't walk right and needed to lie down. I can't say for certain because I wasn't there to see it, but it sounded like an atonic seizure. He used to have those when he was a baby.

I'd like to think that maybe it was just the heat or maybe he was a little dehydrated. I can rationalize with the best of them, but my gut says that it wasn't heat or dehydration. It wasn't that hot yesterday, and he usually has no problem drinking fluids. Also, his teacher, his aide, and the principal all witnessed the episode so it's not based on one person's perception.

I'd almost forgotten about them because it's been so long since he's had one. Even when I wrote about the ketogenic diet last year, I knew there was a possibility of a breakthrough seizure, but I never focused on that. It's easy to go merrily along through life and then WHAM! you get kicked in the face. I refuse to get paranoid, but I can no longer be relaxed and complacent.

So, yesterday was a wake-up call to remind me once again that life is not to be taken for granted. In the 8 years that he's been seizure free, this is the only time he's had a breakthrough seizure - that I know of. Let's hope it's the last time.

"Heal me, Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved, for you are the one I praise." Jeremiah 17:14