Ross! Are you ok??? Infantile Seizures at 6 months

Link to Youtube video of  Ross 5-10-11      http://youtu.be/gtoYETEsyUk

Parents: 

Please, view this video! It is a little scary to see but it is so important that you recognize the symptoms of Infantile spasms or infantile seizures. The first time I saw Ross have these spasms I wasn't sure if he was having hiccups or colic episode. I had never seen him do anything like this so I knew something was wrong. Anytime you see anything out of the ordinary with your child, I highly encourage you to videotape the activity and have it professionally reviewed. 

Ross,

May 10, 2011.

I will remember this day forever. You had just turned six months old and gotten a clean bill of health from your pediatrician. All the updated immunizations completed and gaining weight like a champ and then it happened. We had just finished feeding you  your bottle and you began having very slow and jerking movements with your arms and legs. The movements kept happening and I kept talking to you to see if you would respond. I grabbed my phone and videotaped the episode which thankfully subsided after about 8 minutes. You just returned to your happy playful self and started smiling at me which made me feel so much better. I was really worried about you so I called the Nurses line and started asking questions and telling them what I had seen. They told me to keep a close watch on you and if it happened again to take you to the hospital. Well you played for most of the afternoon and right after you had your nap you started having these spasms again. So I loaded you up and took you to the ER. By the time we got there of course you had to make me look silly because you were acting like a happy healthy little guy. We got to see the doctors and I showed them the video. They were really concerned and they called a special doctor called a neurologist. These types of doctors take care of your brain. The neurologist gave us some medicine and set up an office visit for the next day. The next day another doctor looked at the video and said that what you were having was infantile spasms. He said that it was really great that I took the video and it helped them make the initial diagnosis. TO be sure the doctors scheduled a test called and EEG which measures the brain waves and electrical activity in your brain. 

The EEG was really hard on you and mom and dad. We had to keep you awake really late the night before and wake you up really early the next morning and not let you fall asleep. That my son was no easy task because as soon as you were in your car seat your eyes got heavy and mom had to do everything possible to keep you awake. When we got to the EEG lab the technician took us into a little room where they put electric sensors all over your head and glued them down. You didn't like that very much from what I remember. The test took about an hour and mom stayed with you the whole time holding your hand and keeping you close. Then we had to wait another day for the results. 

The doctors had us come back in to the neurology clinic to explain what the EEG showed abnormal electrical activity that confirmed what we had seen  in the video. That you indeed had Infantile spasms. We began a specialized medicine that started working really quickly and after about two weeks of taking it the seizures began to subside and finally stopped all together. We were so happy that the outcome was so good and that you were not suffering them any more. Or so we thought...

I Love you so much Ross,

Daddy