Emily's scare.

Last Tuesday (has it really been almost a week? It feels like a month) started off like any normal day. Sort of. We had made a quick trip to Phoenix the past weekend for a job interview with Corky and a little house-hunting, and we drove home Monday night. We arrived at our house at about 3:00am Tuseday morning, so as expected we were all exhausted Tuesday morning. We joke now that there was some divine intervention because rather than going back to bed Tuesday morning, I got up and unpacked all of our suitcases, started and finished a load of laundry and still managed to have myself and my girls showered and dressed by noon. If you know me at all, it takes me a good 2 days to recover from a trip like that. After I had finished my hair, it was noon exactly, me and my girls were heading downstairs to make lunch. Emily sat at the top of the stairs with a blank stair and kind of trembling, almost as if she had been startled by something.


Rewind to 3 weeks ago, Corky and I heard her blabbing in the middle of the night. I went into check on her and she was babbling and twitching. I pick her up from her crib and she seemed awake but was not acting herself. Corky and I took her into the other room where for about a half hour she wouldn't stand on her own, would blab, and woudn't focus her eyes on anything. Suddenly she snapped out of it and we all went back to sleep, not thinking much about it afterwards. We figured she was still in a sleepy daze.


Now back to Tuesday, this is how she started acting again but this time we had been playing right before and I knew she hadn't been sleeping. I call Corky and say "Remember a couple of weeks ago when Emily was acting funny in the middle of the night? Well, she is doing that again." He tells me that he is on his way home for lunch and is just coming into the neighborhood. Within that next minute, her face become even more catatonic, her trembling had worsened, and her heart was racing. As soon as Corky walked in the door we knew she had to the to E.R. So I held her as Corky drove to the hospital, which was about 1 mile away from our house. During that drive, her breathing became more of a snort and she still wasn't responsive. Something inside of me knew she was having a seizure even though it wasn't at all what you see on tv. She wasn't flailing her arms and legs, just minor twitches.


So Corky drops me and her off at the entrance so we can run inside while he parks the car. I rush her in and tell the front desk that she is responding. She is immediately taken from my arms and rushed back to the trauma room. I was so afraid that they were taking her away from me and that I wouldn't be able to hold her again. Thankfully they let me follow though. I stood in that back room as they immediately started working on her. People rushing all around trying to do their jobs. They confirmed to me that she was in fact having a seizure. A few minutes later (I think? I have no timeline except for when the seizure started and stopped) I see a close friend and member of our branch come around the corner. He was a nurse anesthetis and was actually the one who assisted my doctor for my c-section when I delivered Emily. When he (Neil) saw me all upset and realized it was Emily they were treating, he rushed in and did what he could to help until the other anesthetis could arrive. I was so relieved to see a familiar face even though it was still chaotic at that point. At that point, 2 more pediatricians show up from the clinic across the street. There were about 15 people in that room, all doing what they could to help Emily.


Changing gears a little....this was Corky's perspective. He sat in the E.R. with Gracey as soon as they parked the car. He would have come back to find out what was going on but Gracey couldn't go and he didn't want to leave her there on her own. As he sat there waiting, he saw loads of doctors and nurses, literally running into the E.R. and going to the backroom. He knew it was because of Emily. I can't imagine how scary that must have been for him. I am sure he was imagining the worse (we all were quite honestly) and not knowing anything. Not to mention the feeling of helplessness.

After 45 minutes the seizure finally stopped. They pumped so much valuum into her little body that they put a breathing tube in her throat and were breathing for her. They assured me that she could probably breath on her own but rather than making her body work harder than needed, they did it for her. They were able to stabalize her enough to prepare her for the helicopter ride to Loma Linda University Hospital.


We feel very fortunate to have so many great friends and neighbors. I know anybody would have taken Gracey if I had asked but I called my friend Kelly and she was more than willing to take her. Corky dropped her off while I stayed with Emily. Our friend Neil called our branch president who met me at the E.R. Once again, it was so comforting to see a familiar face. When Corky returned, the E.R. staff allowed Corky and President Anderson to give Emily a blessing before she would board the helicopter. It was a beautful blessing that brought great comfort to not only Emily I'm sure, but to me and Corky. I really needed to hear it because it still seemed chaotic with all the people still working on Emily and all the machines and noises that were going on in there. While my heart totally broke because there wasn't room on the helicopter for me or Corky, I was comforted by the fact that her pediatrician and nurse would be accompanying her during the ride to make sure she remained stable.


So they got the helicopter all prepped and ready and they wheeled her out. By that time, I had my wits about me and was just so grateful and impressed by the hospital staff that I was overwhelmed with appreciation. We still didn't know what was going to happen but I had a sense of relief that I was so in need of. However, as they wheeled her outside, they had to wheel her through the E.R. public entrance. I saw a mom there with her child that was just younger than Emily and saw her heart break for me. I have no idea who she was but seeing her face snapped me back to reality. I realized that she was seeing me experience something with my child that every mother dreads. I felt her compassion and sorrow and I wanted to just hug her....maybe I should have.

Anyway, so off Emily goes in the helicopter. Corky and I watched as it took off and I joked that she beat me to a helicopter ride. I have always wanted to ride in one, but not like that.

picture 1- Loading Emily into the helicopter. Her nurse is in the scrubs and her doctor is just getting into the helicopter.

picture 2, 3, 4- Heading off to Loma Linda, about a 40 minute helicopter ride.