Sick Sam

We are finally back home, so I have my master email list with me now.

Here's an update for those of you who haven't heard:

Sam had a second seizure on Thursday about three hours after we brought him home from the hospital brought on from another fever spike. He had an abnormality in his ECG in the ambulance on the way to the hospital and then three or four more once we were there. They transferred him to the UNC Children's Hospital pediatric cardiac unit and put him on a heart monitor, along with several other monitors and gave him tons of Tylenol to prevent future spikes in his temperature (which brought on both seizures).

They said that one febrile seizure is normal, but two is very uncommon (called "complex febrile" seizures when there is more than one). The seizure problem is a separate problem from the heart one. We had already seen a cardiologist about two months ago from what the doctor thought was a "gallop" in his heartbeat. It turned out to be nothing, according to the doctor, but he took an ultrasound and ECG at that point.

When the team of doctors began working on Sam, they immediately called our previously seen cardiologist, because he is apparently the "rhythm" expert in this region. He has been the one working with us to discover the root of Sam's heart irregularities.

We have been sent home with a heart monitor to use until tomorrow morning and have been given detailed instructions about checking his heartrate and when to call 911. We are giving him more Tylenol to keep his fever down. It was 97.1 when we left the hospital (and had been down for about 15 hours) and is now 99.1 (down from 99.8 about half an hour ago). So, needless to say, we are on pins and needles about him.

My brother, Adam, and his wife, Kendall, are going to stay with us tonight and care for our needs since we are going to be only focusing on Sam's needs. We really appreciate your prayers and ask that you continue to pray for a low temperature, no more seizures and no future problems with his heart.

Thanks to everyone for your emails and phone calls. I hope you will understand if we haven't written back personally, but this seems to be the best way to tackle this. I am reading all your emails though, and really appreciate the love and support we are feeling.
We will let you know more when we do. We are going to hunker down at the house until Sam's pediatric appointment on Monday morning at 9:30am.

Bill told our pastor, Marty Jacumin, this morning that maybe God gave Sam the second seizure so they could catch the heart problem. Otherwise, we would not have known. We DO know that God is in control and we feel His presence with us.

Blessings,

Teesa and Bill