I Hate Febrile Seizures!

Since last week, I've been wanting to blog about my first garage sale but unfortunately something way more serious needed my attention. Alden had been unwell all week and last Sunday, he had another febrile convulsion. The fact that it was his fifth didn’t make it easy for me at all. I was still as panicky as I was the first time it happened and consumed by the feeling of helplessness. It was heartbreaking seeing him like that cos there was nothing I could do to stop the seizure. Thank goodness this time the convulsion only lasted for a few seconds. That was last week. He is so much better now and he's back to being his usual cheeky self.

To be honest with you, I hate telling people that my son has had five seizures in the last 18 months cos some may think that I hadn’t done enough to prevent them. Like when I told my friend N about it, her response was “OMG liz!! Macam mana juga dia buli kena tu? Kamu nda jaga dia punya demam ka? Mau jaga betul betul tu. Kalau dorang c XXX demam kan, sia nda tidur sampai siang.” Bla bla bla.

This kind of remark doesn’t help at all. Of course I monitor his fever. In fact, I did everything by the book. Kept him cool, took his temperature regularly, put cold packs on his forehead, gave paracetamol every 4 hours etc. Despite all that, he still had a fit. It just happened.

I might sound a tad defensive here but that’s not my intention at all. I’m writing this to assure myself and possibly other moms out there that a febrile convulsion is a common medical condition. And if you have done everything you possibly could to contain the fever, then you do not need to feel guilty about your kid having a fit. You can’t prevent it from happening. Even regular paracetamol will not prevent febrile convulsions.

- A febrile seizure is a convulsion in young children caused by a sudden spike in body temperature, often from an infection.

- A seizure triggered by a sudden fever is usually harmless and typically doesn't indicate a long-term or ongoing problem.
- Often, a febrile seizure occurs before parents even realize that their child is ill.
- Febrile seizures affect 2 percent to 4 percent of children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years.

Taken from Mayo Clinic.com

When your kid has a fever, you can try control it by giving him paracetamol. That's what the paediatrician told us to do. But if there is a sudden rise in his temperature, he may still get a febrile convulsion. Some kids like Alden, who belong in the 2-4% category, are prone to getting a seizure whenever they have fever. That's why febrile convulsions are sometimes called fever-fits. It sucks for me but it is something I must live with. Having said that, it is not all that bad. From what I've read, these seizures do not have a long term physical effect and most kids will grow out of it when they turn six.

I'm trying to be positive about this febrile thingy cos everytime it happens, my whole world crumbles and I get so sick inside. I start blaming myself and people around me and saying silly stuff like Oh no! we should've seen it coming or Shit! we should've given him paracetamol earlier or Itulah! we shouldn't have sent him to school today. It's a pain.

I think I just need to be more calm and less panicky when something like this happens again. I pray that it won't, but no one can guarantee that. I hate not knowing when it'll happen again or whether it will happen again. All I know is, it will go away someday. For now, we'll just have to live with this...this...how should I put it? Temporary inconvenience? Yep. That's right.

I can't wait for Alden to turn six.

Now that I have got that off my chest, can I finally talk about my garage sale?

So last Saturday, I had this small garage sale at home, in my garage. I mean of course it’s in my garage. It’s a garage sale right? So anyway, lots of people came to my garage, I mean garage sale, young and old and..…Okay, this isn’t working at all. This whole new paragraph I mean. The sudden change of topic is a bit awkward and it is making this whole entry sound incoherent.

What I’m going to do is wrap up this post and start a new one so I can tell you more about my garage sale and the aftershocks in Christchurch okay? Cheers.