weekend from hell . . .

[Guest guest]

Hi all --

If anyone's been wondering what we've been up to (ahem) . . . Saturday

morning (4.10/PDD-NOS) had what appeared to be a mild seizure at the

breakfast table, his first.

So I put him and his younger sister (Jacy, 2) in the car and speed for the

hospital. When we arrive, suddenly loses control of the function of

both his legs and is unable to stand, much less walk. So I am FREAKING OUT

trying to carry both kids into the emergency room doors.

They take us immediately and we spend the next 5 hours getting xrays, blood

work, etc. has a mild fever (99 degrees) when we arrive but it

escalates to 103 during the day. Jacy starts getting ancy after a couple of

hours, having had barely any breakfast. By lunchtime she is in full swing,

tantrumming, and I cannot reach any of my family members by phone to come

pick her up. My cousins and aunt/uncle are about a half-hour from us, and my

mom is 2 hours away. No one is answering the phone.

Desperate, I wind up calling one of my friends to come get her so I can stay

with . I give my friend instructions to keep trying to reach my mother

in order to have her come get Jacy and take her back to her house. In the

meantime, is getting more and more lethargic.

Then he experienced that miraculous " fever effect " when autistic kids

suddenly become lucid, talkative. He was commenting on EVERYTHING and it was

so neat to experience having an actual conversation with him. We are told by

the doctors that he needs to be transported to a Children's Hospital as they

do not know exactly what is wrong. So we are taken by ambulance to s

Hopkins in Baltimore. My car is left behind at the first hospital.

The same tests are run at the second hospital, doctors are still puzzled.

is now able to stand and walk, but he is lurching around like he has

no motor control whatsoever. I think he has had a stroke and this is

neurological. But the doctors think it is a bone issue. So more tests are

scheduled. We are admitted for the evening. In the meantime someone has

FINALLY contacted my mom, who comes to get Jacy. So that's one less thing for

me to worry about.

Sunday more tests are done, doctors are still puzzled, but ' fever

comes down and he is not walking quite as strangely. Doctors think he has a

bone infection of some kind, but the tests rule that out as well. By the end

of the day, is walking normally again and the doctor discharges us

from the hospital, giving us no reasonable explanation for what has happened,

just instructions to return in one week for a follow-up.

The cab ride home costs $60. I have $5 in my pocket. The cab company adds the

charge to our hospital bill somehow. We arrive home Sunday night, 11pm-ish. I

am starved, having not eaten since Friday evening.

Monday morning the phone rings. It's my mother, calling to let me know that

Jacy is running a fever. I find a way to pick my car up at the original

hospital. There is a pool of oil underneath it. Just fucking wonderful.

This morning my mother has called 3 times regarding Jacy. Apparently the

woman cannot deal with a simple fever, i.e. giving the kid Tylenol. My car

will not be repaired until tomorrow afternoon.

I have earned this nervous breakdown, and no one is going to deprive me of it.

-BJ in polis, MD