As I mentioned yesterday, George spent the night in the hospital. Now, with his OTC, that’s not that unusual, but his method of gaining a bed was a tad unorthodox, to say the least.

You see, Tuesday was my birthday, and as I pointed out earlier, it always rains on my birthday. Well, that tradition is safe for another year, because yet again, it rained on Tuesday. And since rain makes everyone sleepy, I didn’t think much of George wanted to climb in my lap a little before 11 and falling asleep. I had second thoughts when he woke up shortly after lunch, screaming bloody murder.

As I tried to settle him down, I realized he was feeling warm. So I took his temp, and low and behold, it was 103.2. I know we need to be careful, so I did a tylenol suppository (he’s at the age that he refuses to take medicine, as in spitting it back in my face).  A little bit later, his temp was down to 101.5, but he was very lethargic and not acting quite right, so I called the pediatrician. Although his office is an hour drive from here, they said they would see us as soon as we could get there, so I got everyone ready and headed out.

I suspected we were dealing with an ear infection, or something along those lines, so I didn’t think much of it. I figured we would be back home shortly after the boys got home from school, so I made sure Boss Man didn’t plan to leave the yard. I dropped EJ off at Grandma’s house and we were off to the clinic.

We got to the clinic, the nurse weighed George and took his temp (101.4) and we sat down in one of those cozy little rooms. And then it hit.

George had another full-blown seizure. Thanks be to God that it was in the clinic, and not while I was driving down! The nurse called the doctor in immediately, the place was buzzing with action, we had suction, oxygen and plenty of support staff. It was terrifying and a relief at the same time. Terrifying because it was my son, and he was in trouble, relieving because it was at the clinic, and the doctor knew what to do.

It was seven minutes from when things started until things were “OK” again. We were admitted to the hospital for observation, mainly because George is a “special case” when it comes to these things.

You see, febrile seizures (seizures caused by a fever), are common. Very common. As common as they are, they are still scarier than all get-out. But high ammonia levels can also cause seizures. And illness can cause high ammonia levels with OTC. So which is the culprit, the ammonia or the fever? Chicken or the egg?

So we got a cool wheel-chair ride in an underground tunnel from the clinic to the hospital, had a room full of nurses starting IV’s, trying to draw blood and making sure that everything was taken care of. And then we spent the rest of my birthday, and half of his, waiting, and waiting and waiting.

He did not have any other seizures. His temperature only went up once during the night. And by morning he was well on his way to back to normal.

So what was the cause? No clue, really. His ears were clear, his lungs were clear, so the doctor went with the stand-by of “viral illness.” All that matters to me is that we are back home.

And the next time he starts to run a temp, we’ll be on high alert. I won’t necessarily have to take him in, as long as I feel comfortable and nothing to extraordinary happens. But we’ll see. I’m not sure I want to trust my judgment on what may be wrong…especially if a seizure is involved. It’s not that I’m unfamiliar with this territory, we’ve been down it before with Big Bro, but this is a whole new level.

I will say, though, George knows how to kick off a new year. I may be in big trouble if this is just the warm-up to the Terrible Two’s.