taken straight from comments. update on Meghan

Well, yesterday, Meghan and I both woke up with a queasy tummy, but I took Zofran as to keep myself from vomiting. She did vomit, but was completely happy otherwise. I mean, we've had so many GI problems with her, it wasn't surprising, you know?
So, I went to lunch with a group of friends, after lunch we were going to the mall, en route, my friend had to pull over because I lost my lunch... (When we got to the mall, I went straight to the maternity store to get these things called preggie pops to try to calm my stomach, seriously)
So, we're at the mall for awhile, and I get a frantic call from my mom "COME HOME NOW MEGHANS SEIZING" and she hung up. I was freaking out, so my friend pulled extreme die hard moves to get me to our local hospital (chester county) from king of prussia. I was dropped off even before the ambulance had arrived. (My mom works in that ER and her coworker didn't even recognize me, I was freaking out that bad)

She spiked a fever *out of nowhere* she was up and playing one minute, and then all of a sudden she began seizing. The first seizure went on for about 10-15 minutes. She came too right around the time the EMTs arrived.
Pat rode in the ambulance with her, and she began to seize again en route. They pushed 2mg Ativan, she was OUT. When we saw her at Chester County, you could tell she was post ichtal, plus the Ativan (that amount for such a small child did honestly freak me out. I'm prescribed .5 PRN for when I have crazy doctor appointments and just life in general...

Her CT of her head and her chest x-ray were clear. She wasn't responding (probably because of the Ativan), so they were talking about doing an LP (i hate the phrase spinal tap...), but she then groggily asked for the cartoon network.

They took her to Childrens in Philly, she was immediately put onto the service of Neurology. The stroke clinic Neurologist, Dr Ichord (Meghans personal Neurologist), just happens to be at a symposium out in San Francisco or somewhere out there)
Doctors ordered an EEG today, but we haven't seen/heard anything about results.

(I'm going to write about what else we saw the passed couple days in another comment, btw, I'm afraid its going to cut me off)

Today she was having issues with being wobbly when walking, her eyelids were "heavy" (one was "drooping" more than the other), she was having issues walking (verbalized she was dizzy), and she is talking out of one side of her mouth. If you look at the picture I posted, you'll see we were having trouble getting her to create a smile that was bilateral.
And you've seen Meghan outside of the hospital. She is ALWAYS smiling.
She also was somewhat cranky, she was saying she felt better, but then also complained her knee and ankle hurt.
She has an MRI in the AM, I'm hoping its clear, but I want answers. Seriously, doctors seem to look at my kid and throw their arms up in the air, or they are so so quizzical about everything for their own sake.
Another thing, she wears an allergy bracelet, She gets the WORST rashes (not just hives, but blisters up). I told them this, its well documented.
I wasn't there when they were doing the IV. They told Pat that it was hypoallergenic tape. Nope. Fail. Exactly what she's allergic to. I asked for Hy-tape, 3M micropore, or 3M tegaderm. I have the same issues, so I know what to do, you know?
I can't sleep at the hospital because my arm is in SO much pain from the surgery. There is no way I can sleep in a chair/on a couch.
I actually asked if they'd ruled out meningitis, and they tapdanced the issue. Patrick says "they" (any medical personnel) tapdance around all of the issues. I feel like we've gotten straight forward answers. Which are all pretty much still "we don't know" right now, but its actually a better situation than while she was at AI because they just kept naming it different things. and by there THEY means residents. They all seem to be terrified of the attending, but want to suck up and get the best differential diagnosis.
So so so frustrating.



precursor aka, earlier this week...

So, on Tuesday night, Meghan was walking around our living room like normal, when her left leg gave out. I wrote a note to her teacher/ physical therapist. She wrote back, saying that she'd noticed left sided weakness of both the arm and leg for a couple weeks (wish I would have noticed that sooner)
I was at Penn all day Wednesday because I saw my vascular surgeon and nephrologist. (Graft is good to go, just have to get the OK from the insurance company to start training for dialysis)
Anyway, because of these two things, I took her to her regular pediatrician, Dr Faber, on Thursday. He loves her, and she loves him. He is in such awe about how well she has bounced back from the stroke.
He said that her weakness was inconsistent, and couldn't tell if she was just being silly. He was concerned that she may have suffered a TIA (transient ischemic attack. aka: mini stroke), so I guess we'll find out from the MRI tomorrow.
*sigh* that was a lot of information and thats emotionally exhausting.
We see the stroke clinic on 3/11. I would really love to see if we can get a PT do a visit to Meghan before the MRI... I have to remember to ask them if thats possible.
Maybe I'll have Pat write that on the board...