Our Trip to the Emergency Room

Yesterday morning, Millie was acting normal, but tired. Still, she insisted that we go to playgroup at the church. So we went, but she wanted me to hold her the whole time and she fell asleep in my arms (the first time ever!).

When we got home, I noticed she had the chills and a fever of 1o2. 7, so I gave her some Ibuprofen. She just lay limp on the couch. I tried to talk with her, but I was getting no response. She was staring at me but wouldn't say a word. Then she just stared up at the ceiling. I got worried, so I called Paul to tell him that I was going to call the doctor. While I was talking with him, I looked over and Millie was foaming at the mouth, but lifeless on the couch. I hung up, ran over to her, and picked up her limp, pale body. Her eyes were back and over. While I called 911, her eyes closed and she wouldn't respond. She was still breathing heavily and I could feel her heart beating rapidly. 911 sent an Ambulance. Paul was on his way home.

It took the ambulance a few minutes to arrive. They asked a lot of questions, checked her out, and then said she would need to go for a little ride. She was still unconscious and shaking. Her heart rate was at 200. I was still in shock, and didn't know whether to wait for Paul or ride with her. I decided to wait for Paul, since I still had Grace. A few friends saw the ambulance and came running over. They told me to go in the ambulance, and that they would take Grace. But I refused, since the ambulance was pulling away and Paul was so close. I totally regretted this later! I wish I would have gone with her!

Our friend took Grace and we headed to Primary Children's. That ride took forever! It was so hard not knowing how Millie was doing. We had no way to contact her or the paramedics. All we could do was drive, pray and call our family to ask for their prayers. We imagined the worse, but hoped and prayed for everything to be alright.

It was such a relief to walk into the Emergency Room and find Millie with her eyes open. She looked scared and traumatized. The nice nurse and doctor were trying to get her to talk, but with no success. We couldn't even get her to talk for over an hour. She only said about 10 words the entire 5 hours at the hospital. She would only nod her head, and even then, it just didn't seem like Millie. Even when we talked to her about her younger sister, she just gave us a blank stare as if she didn't remember Grace. It was a little scary, but the doctor said that's normal for a little while after a seizure.

As soon as he got a chance, Paul gave Millie a Priesthood blessing. It was simple and brief. But we were so relieved as we exercised our faith once again in her behalf. We knew that Heavenly Father was watching over her. We also felt the power of the prayers being offered by family members.

We relished the time in the hospital with Millie. We felt so grateful to have her still! We read her books, told her stories, cuddled with her on that uncomfortable hospital bed, tried to explain what had happened to her, and comforted her when she was being "poked." We tried to get her to take liquids, but everything came back up. She went through 3 pairs of hospital underwear. Thank goodness for IVs!

The initial diagnosis was a seizure, but it was hard to know how severe it was, and what caused it. After many tests, including a CT scan, they concluded that she had a febrile seizure (fever induced seizure), and that no harm was done. We knew nothing about these seizures before this, but they are fairly common in children. Here's a link to read more about them

It was so nice to come home and find that Gracie was happy at our neighbor's home, a meal had been prepared for us, "get well" balloons were hanging on the porch, treats were delivered by caring neighbors, and many friends and family had contacted us to see if everything was okay. We felt so loved and cared for by everyone. Thank you!

Today, Millie is doing so much better. She was able to keep all her food down, and she ate a lot! I had to bribe her to take a bath (to get rid of the throw-up smell) because she didn't want any of her "special" band aids to come off. She had to wear her green swimsuit all day because it matches her green band aids. She and Gracie both insisted on wearing the yellow balloons around their wrists all day long. Oh, the simple pleasures!