Yesterday when Thomas woke up he had an awful cough. I could tell that he didn't feel 100%, and since the heat indexes were supposed to be in the upper 90's I did think about keeping him home. However, it was picture day, and he is in an air-conditioned classroom (although the building is not...each room has a window unit) and so off he went. We had some after school scheduling conflicts so while Robert was at cross country practice Catherine would ride the bus home then we would pick up Thomas from school.
About 12:30 I heard my cell phone ring. I didn't get to it and at first kind of ignored it. Then I remembered Thomas hadn't felt so well and I thought I'd better check. Sure enough, the caller ID indicated it was his school and there was a voice message. My heart stopped when I heard the caller explain I needed to call because there was an "emergency." That was the exact word. I called back, although of course I couldn't dial and the phone didn't work correctly. I couldn't even remember my name when I called (I suddenly reverted back to my maiden name!). When I finally got in touch with someone I was told, "Thomas collapsed and we've called the squad." He is on his way to the hospital." I remember asking if he was conscious at that point and the woman explained she didn't know because she wasn't with him. I ran to my room to throw on some clothes other than the shabby things I had been wearing to clean, and immediately dialed my husband's cell. I had thought he was still in his plan period. I accidentally hung up on him while calling and called right back. The good news is that our "code" if he is in class (and it turned out he was) if there is an emergency is keep calling until he answers. I explained the situation, and he was out the door as fast as he could be.
The drive to the e/r here in town was the longest of my life. I don't remember crying, but I remember feeling an increasing amount of panic, and I remember lots of praying. I remember being VERY irritated at college students who kept walking out in front of me. I remember running into the e/r lobby then seeing an ambulance pull up and running back out. It wasn't him though. The emt's explained he was already in. I ran back in and someone sitting at check-in asked if I was Thomas's mom. The school nurse had accompanied him to the hospital and assured me he was doing fine at that time. There is some confusion as to whether or not he ever actually lost consciousness, but apparently he was absolutely pale white and not recovering quickly. Apparently this incident had occurred as they were coming in from recess and getting ready for lunch. Anyway, the immediately took me to him, and while he looked terrified, he was awake and alert and aware, and to this mother's eyes he had never looked better. They ran blood work and started an IV. They also had him hooked up to a heart monitor and did a chest xray and a EKG. They even ran a strep test.
All of the tests came back absolutely fine. Good news, right? Not so fast! This particular doctor was simply not comfortable dealing with a pediatric patient, and especially one who arrived in the e/r with the coloring (or lack thereof) Thomas had. He decided we needed to be transferred to a Children's Hospital and kept overnight for observation. We had already made arrangements for the older two kids to be with my aunt & uncle for the evening, and I immediately began to plan how we were going to handle an overnight admittance. Thomas wanted his dad in the ambulance with him, and I would follow behind. Andrew would then come home and get the other two and take care of them for the night and I would stay with Thomas. That is also when my emotions began to get the better of me, and I just had to excuse myself and let myself cry for a minute. It all just felt so overwhelming at the time, especially with all of the other emotions (all of which seemed pretty petty at that moment) I'd been feeling during the week.
After several hours at Children's we were sent home. The doctor feels it was vasovagal syncope, which in my opinion is a name for "one of those things that just happens". Because this was not the first episode (a similar, although much less severe, episode happened the second day of school when it was also VERY hot) we are being referred to a cardiologist. The good news is that both e/r docs said there was absolutely NO indication there is a heart problem, but they want to be able to have an expert rule it out. Thomas was absolutely himself by this point, and he couldn't wait to tell his sister all about his IV and experiences of the day. Unfortunately, by the time we arrived home it was so late the other kids were in bed. My aunt dropped me at the hospital to get Andrew's car which we had left there and Andrew got Thomas into bed. I came home, emailed some teachers and then sat down with Andrew and began to cry. I was so very, very grateful to be home in our own bed, but the emotions of the day caught up with me. I regretted that Catherine hadn't been able to see Thomas before she went to bed, and I regretted that while both kids knew we would be coming home, neither Robert nor Catherine got to see us. While the tears were due to stress and emotion, a great deal of that emotion was gratitude. There is definitely a lot going on in our lives right now, but I am so grateful to have my wonderful family surrounding me. We will get through all of these little (and not-so-little) dramas, and we'll be fine...most importantly we will be together!
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