Some days just get you. Break you down from morning to night. Bring trials you cannot image when you begin them. Today was one of those for me.
Last night, Laycie decided she needed to sleep with Mommy. She does that sometimes. Sometimes it’s just because she needs the extra snuggle. Other times it’s because she just feels off, which is common for her seizure type. So, of course, I let her.
Last night, she wasn’t feeling well so she wanted to sleep with us, and sure enough she began running a fever in the night. She’s been battling a canker sore the past few days. We were hoping it would get better but it worsened, leading to her fever.
Having a child with Epilepsy, fevers tend to not be friendly things. They can lead to a convulsion. They wear a normal child out but even more so with an Epileptic child. Needless to say this morning we were not up to going to therapy and we spent much of the day on the couch.
Since she wasn’t feeling well and had a fever, I pushed liquids to keep her hydrated and Motrin to keep her fever down and help her rest. This afternoon I offered her a butterscotch, thinking it would help sooth her throat.
She enjoyed her candy for a few minutes, then suddenly the hard candy slipped into her throat. She began to gasp for air and clutch at her throat. She began crying and trying to cough. My baby was choking on her piece of candy.
I quickly grabbed her up and sent her sister to find my Mom who had gone next door to her house. Laycie was still gasping and struggling to breath. Her body was automatically trying to throw her candy back up to get it dislodged.
My Mom, who is CPR certified, helped Laycie while I grabbed my Tahoe key and purse and ran out my door, only to run back in and grab Jackson. By this point Laycie was ok and breathing again but crying still and telling me she still felt like the candy was stuck and I definitely wanted to have her checked at the ER. A normal 10 minute drive to town, only took 5 minutes or less today.
When we got to the ER they took her straight in and I was assured by the closest EMT that since she was breathing and somewhat talking to me, she was fine. Still I had the doctor look her over, check her since she had a fever all day and had the canker sore. He told us the sore was causing her fever and it would just have to run it’s course. And he assured me though her throat would probably be sore she was fine.
Laycie has assured me she does not want any more butterscotch after her experience today. She is doing much better now and is soundly sleeping in my bed again tonight, not because she wants to but because Momma needs her close after such a harrowing day.
Hug your babies. Keep them close. We are never promised tomorrow and we never know how close we are to going “home”. I am thankful to God that my baby girl is just fine and snuggling with her Momma tonight.
This Momma is shutting down for the night but I hope you all have a blessed Wednesday.
