Say a little prayer

[My1stCamaro92RS]

I'm sure he would've wanted to post this himself but I think other things were pressing at the time. From another site Mark and I belong to, the post was last night around 10:30PM.


Hello Everyone, I wish I did not have this awful news to share, but...

My son had two seizures at school today and was rushed to the ER. He suffered a third seizure following a CAT SCAN and was rushed to the pediatric intensive care unit at Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital here in Cleveland. His Mom and I are going to be spending the night with him, and we hope the doctors can find out what caused his episodes with the multitude of tests they will be running in the next 12 hours or so. I would like to ask everyone to keep Matthew in your prayers tonight.

Thanks for your thoughtful consideration in this troubling time...

Mark

I don't think I have to say much more but my heart fills with remorse when I see kids stricken with an illness. Faith and I will be sending up big prayers for your son and family Mark...

[Mkos1980]

You have my prayers Mark

[speedyz28]

Your son is in our thoughts and prayers Mark. If you need anything please let us know.


Mike & Amanda

[My1stCamaro92RS]

From his post yesterday...
Matthew received an MRI this morning at 6:30AM followed by an EEG test at 1:00PM. He had two more episodes during the EEG test, and luckily they were "caught on paper" as the technician put it. The pediatric neurologist conferred with us this afternoon at 4:30PM and diagnosed Matthew with a form of epilepsy that creates "general" seizures, or a mistaken firing of electrical impulses by the entire brain (instead of one centralized location) that forces him to "blank out". It's a form of electrical overload that is occurring in his brain every now and then.

We were told that of the children that experience this form of epileptic behavior, 40% of them go on to have full-blown seizures as Matthew suffered on Monday. Once a child has experienced a full-blown seizure event, they are 90% likely to have repeat episodes of the more serious variety if left untreated without proper medication.

As I mentioned previously, he had a total of 3 convulsive seizures within a span of approximately 3 hours on Monday afternoon. The combination of the trauma and the drugs administered by the emergency personnel to head off the episodes really knocked him out. He has experienced several of the milder seizures since then as "after-shocks".

The good news is we have caught the problem and there are two common medications for this form of epilepsy. The doctor has started him on medication to suppress the seizures and will be monitoring the dosage over the next several months to make sure we find the proper dosage level for his case.

Matthew was released from Rainbow Babies and Childrens Hospital tonight and is resting comfortably at home. He will be out of school for a few days as we wait for the medication to take effect and look for any adverse reactions.

Thanks again for your prayers last night, and please keep him in your prayers in the near future as we hope this brings the seizures under control. Naturally, Melissa and I are extremely exhausted and we are both looking forward to a good night sleep in our own bed, God willing. We look forward to kicking our life back into "normal" as soon as possible.

Thanks again to everyone for their support!
Mark

[Wacky Tower]

Mark,
I really hope everthing turns out OK for your son my thoughts are with him and your family.
Godbless
The other Mark

[84Berlinetta]

Thanks so much, Rob, for keeping on top of the posts for me! :thumbup:

Yes, it has been a rough couple of days, but Matthew is feeling like his old self again... we just need to be more vigilant until he is fully protected by this new medication. (The doctor says this will take 6 to 8 weeks.)

Thanks to everyone for your support... We are looking forward to Spring again, hoping to have this all behind us soon!

Mark