Febrile Seizure, Pneumonia, Ear Infection, 18 month old :(

My eldest son, Elias, had a febrile seizure when he was little and it was a pretty scary event. I think seeing him convulsing the way he was will be an image in my head the rest of my life.

Having been through that, I recognized the same trend in my son Aryeh the other day. He has been fighting a cold/virus for a week or more. He woke up from nap and was acting very lethargic and his fever had spiked. We canceled our plans for the evening and I told my husband to watch him since I had a feeling he was going to have a seizure like Elias did.

I did not treat his fever since he didn't feel very hot to the touch at all. He was acting normal, just more lethargic then normal. He was even watching a show with his brother eating a cracker when it happened. 

One of my girls noticed him shaking. I ran over to him, placed my hand on his face and my other on his hip and reassured him, "It's okay, I'm right here." I calmly told Alex to call 911, asked the girl who is living with us to start timing the seizure, and explained to the kids he's going to be fine and this is not dangerous it just looks scary. 

Aryeh got very blue in the face, which was a bit frightening. But after 5 minutes he snapped right out of it and regained consciousness, was breathing quickly, but normally. The ambulance showed up.

As we were being escorted to the hospital, the EMT was telling me that they usually don't even bring kids to the ER who have these seizures because they are a normal part of fevers. Far more common and far less dangerous then people think. He explained he would much rather families keep their sick child at home and comfort them instead of bringing them to the ER to be around other sick kids. This is all as long as they come out of the seizure okay and it doesn't last too long. 

Aryeh was diagnosed at this point with an ear infection, probably the influenza, is popping TWO molars, and seems to be developing a yeast infection (his tongue is white and he is holding his pee like it hurts to pee).

Even the ER doctor told me febrile seizures are normal, non-dangerous, and can happen again, but I don't need to be alarmed. She explained that she recommends giving Aryeh Tylenol and Ibprophin to comfort him, however, this protocol will actually NOT prevent a febrile seizure, which is misunderstood by many people.

We went home and Aryeh's fever stayed between 104 & 105 which was WAY to high for my comfort. We treated his fever with a dose of ibuprofen to get through the night or to get him to drink some fluids when he hadn't for a long time. I then called his pediatrician and asked them what they thought about letting the fever run it's course, the risk of another seizure ect. 

Well... after about 5 days his fever skyrocketed at 105.5! 

We took him into his pediatrician who found out he was developing pneumonia and did NOT have influenza or strep. We immediately started him on antibiotics and his fever finally left after only the second dose! PRAISE THE LORD!

He's still recovering, but doing fantastic now considering all he's been through!

We're all still recovering since I have been up through the night every single night holding him and rocking him to sleep making sure he's elevated and able to breathe and not having another seizure. 

So here are some things we're using/have been using regularly to comfort him and support his body:

*Coconut water
*Fever Cold and Flu Tincture (every 2 hours)
*Garlic Tincture (3 times a day orally and in ears)
*Onion, Honey syrup (homemade 2-3 times a day or more)
*Elberberry syrup (homemade 2-3 times a day or more)
*Breathe Easy Salve 
*Warm baths
*Cold Rags
*Humidifyer
*Cool Rags
*Diet: Ezekiel bread or brown rice with Kerrigold butter, chicken bone stock, or a banana when he had an appetite 
* Adult robotics (1/2 capsulsle twice a day) to help with the antibiotics
*Tylonol and Ibprophin when we got nervous, but sparingly

I totally understand the fear that comes with all the differing opinions thrown your way when it comes to scary medical events like this one. 

I understand the pressure of being seen as "negligent" or being "misunderstood" by those when you explain you're NOT going to treat an ear infection or a fever with the "recommended" procedure.

I also am SO THANKFUL for antibiotics when they are truly needed! 

I get seeing your baby miserable and there's not much you can do about it.

I think the best thing in these situations is:

(1) PRAY! God knows what your child needs and will give you the strength and your child the comfort you both need.

(2) DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH: I'm talking medical journals and reports, not blog posts and mother forums - then you have something to fall back on!

(3) REPAIR AND RESTORE your child if and when you do NEED to do a harsh medical treatment such as antibiotics.