Grounded for Christmas

One never knows exactly how the day is going to unfold but generally you have a pretty good idea. One morning mid November I got my typical early morning wake up call from the whole clan. It started with Luella bellowing out to be grabbed from her crib so she could have her morning snuggle and breast feed. Shortly thereafter her favorite man in the whole wide world entered the living room and she got down from the couch to head over for her next snuggle but instead she collapsed with her first step. There was no guessing something was wrong. She fell down on her knees and then tried to get back up and kept falling to the right. It didn't take Luella long to get frustrated with the situation as she has been very mobile and active since about 11 months.

The poor little thing couldn't even sit. I knew I had to take her into Emerg. Of course I thought worse case scenario and wondered if she was dealing with a brain bleed or tumor of sorts. As usual I just went into overdrive and I couldn't let myself process these thoughts too much as I'd become too fragile. Plus I do have a tendency to jump the gun and expect worse case scenario.

Anyhow we got to Emerg and were brought in right away. Luella ended up getting bloodwork and a CT scan which all came back negative...... thank goodness. Then she was assessed by the resident pediatrician and after they communicated with neurology at Childrens it was determined Luella needed to be medivaced to Children's Hospital.




















Fortunately at this point Luella's inability to remain upright was starting to resolve and by the time we were met by the Paramedics Luella's symptoms had all resolved. You can see she is back to normal in this video clip. CLICK HERE What a whirlwind and how bizarre it was to suddenly be dealing with the medical system at this level with my littlest little munchkin.

Once we got down south Luella had an EEG (assessment for seizure activity) followed by an assessment from the head neurologist and a cardiologist at Children's Hospital with which no cause was identified.

The neurologist advised that we don't continue with more invasive tests such as an MRI and LP as she resolved so quickly and had no pre-existing concerns. Although it was an unnerving experience I'm ok the tests stopped when they did as I feel the same as the neurologist that it was a one off situation. Fortunately, once again my friends Kim and Don were kind enough to put us up while we were down helping to ease the stress of the whole situation. Three days after this whole fiasco started Luella and I were back home safe and sound.

What this experience did do is ground me and remind me what truly is important in life. My family. Those piles of laundry, water droplets on the windows, and the never ending trail of items to pickup really don't matter.

If someone you loved suddenly was gone forever you would only wish you had a little more time.

I got more time.

MERRY CHRISTMAS