Friday Night - A Josiah Update

Hi Everyone

Our church just wrapped an incredible week of VBS and now I finally have the time to put up a few thoughts!

Some of you may have heard that Josiah had to go back to Children's Hospital for a couple nights this week. He had been fighting a fever for a few days and no amount of Tylenol or Motrin was bringing it down. Late Tuesday night he ended up having a severe seizure to the point he wasn't breathing on his own for 30 minutes. Thank God that our kid is trached and vented!! (OK, most parents wouldn't probably say that ... ) Anyways, the long fever obviously stressed his body to the point where his mind couldn't protect itself.

To complicate matters, we had started a new seizure med the previous week which totally changed the manifestation of Josiah's seizure. Usually his seizures have been 'tremors' in his sleep. This time he was quasi awake and just froze, not breathing. After a few minutes he would move and 'respond', but still wasn't breathing on his own and obviously still in the seizure. But we have a ventilator and oxygen for a reason and his vitals were well maintained despite the freaky nature of things.

He ended up being taken to MSA via ambulance - we had three emergency vehicles and 6+ attendants at our home! - where he was treated and stabilized. The seizure finally stopped after about 2 hours, around 1:30 in the morning. He was at the time also able to breathe on his own without oxygen and the ventilator rate. Later in the morning he was transported to Children's and spend the next couple of days there.

Strangely enough, nothing showed up in the tests the doctors ran. Blood, urine, stool, and trach aspirate samples were all checked 2-3 times and no viruses or bacteria was found. The only thing that stood out was that Josiah's white blood cell count was up, so it was obvious he was fighting a virus.

Marie and Josiah came home this afternoon. We've started yet another seizure med (the one given to him at MSA which stopped the seizure), but also weaning off a second seizure med because it does the same job the new drug does. Thankfully, Josiah was completely stabilized and not in any danger after the initial seizure was stopped. His stay at Children's was pretty uneventful and boring because he couldn't leave the room, but it's good to know he was recovering so well. His fever has been gone since Wednesday and he's more or less himself. Tomorrow will be great day after he has a long night's sleep in his bed!

Thanks for your all those who prayed and expressed their concern. Reflecting on the last couple of days, it was nice knowing that this hospital term wasn't a crisis, just one of those things Josiah may run into here and there. An emergency, yup. But not a crisis (if that distinction makes any sense). Any-who, I was comforted by the lack of stress or fear I had during the initial ordeal. Josiah's condition could have invariably been on the bubble so to speak and could have easily worsened if a few factors had changed, but that's the same with everyone if you really think about it.

When people ask how we deal with it, I've come up with a simple answer which seems to be my 'go-to' for the moment: "God knew what he was doing when he made Marie and I the way he did." It's not a pack-myself-on-the-back kind of response, just a confidence in who we are and how God prepared us for life. It's seems accurate enough.

So that's that. Time to sign off and spend sometime with the family.

In Grace & Peace.
- Andrew, Marie & Josiah