We were looking forward to another exciting activity this weekend. My sister and I were supposed to go firing and my gear was set until Thursday morning came.
Kalel had his flu shot last Wednesday and we already expected a high fever so we gave him paracetamol ahead. True enough the fever arrived just before bedtime. His temperature was 39.8 and We thought it was just normal because 2 weeks ago he had the same temperature and he was healed completely by paracetamol. We gave him paracetamol every 4 hours but accidentally let 1 hour passed Thursday morning. His temperature was 40.1 then.
Then 7am hit, Dennis was still asleep beside Kalel when he heard gnashing of teeth. When we turned around, he saw Kalel having seizure already. He kept on shouting while shaking him in the hopes of reviving or snapping him out of his seizure. He woke me up and all of us just panicked. I panicked so bad that I totally forgot that we can actually bring him to the hospital. My yaya even reminded me.
While driving to Makati Med, another seizure attack came. Dennis beat all traffic lights and counter flowed every way just to get to the hospital as fast as we could.
It was the scariest 5 minutes of my life. Kalel's life literally flashed before my eyes. I thought we would lose him.
Thank God he was revived immediately in the hospital. He was admitted for observations and tests that morning until Saturday. What happened was a Benigne Febrile Convulsion (BFC) which is a result of a high fever and a bit normal for children between 9 months to 5 years old. But since he had seizures, he will undergo an EEG for his head just to make sure it's really just BFC and not a seizure as sickness.
Kalel is well now and back to normal. It's me and Dennis who are still traumatized. I didn't want to go home and see our room and living room where we tried reviving him. I could still picture his attacks in my head. We also try to avoid seeing Makati Med, as in we'll take longer routes going home to avoid it.
I feel guilty at some point because I was busy working that Wednesday night and wasn't able to attend to him to at least give him sponge bath to lower down his temperature. I also forgot to alarm my phone when morning came so he missed his medication. We also didn't double check the dosage of his paracetamol intake. We realized we were not giving enough. And yes, I've been beating myself up for these things.
What's important now is that we already know how to prevent another BFC from happening. Here are a few tips:
1. Make sure to not miss paracetamol intake. Give every 4 hours until fever subsides.
2. Check temperature every hour. If fever doesn't go down and persistent at 38.5 and above, give Ibuprofen to lower it down. Make sure there' a bit of food intake.
Note. We can't give Ibuprofen immediately because it requires some food intake. Most children don't have appetite when they're sick so paracetamol is tummy friendlier.
3. Sponge bath to lower down temperature. If fever reaches 39, give him a bath already. Best to use shower hose and start from head to continuously lower down temperature. Do this even during night time.
Thanks to my family and friends who prayed for Kalel. It sure worked!
Read more about Benigne Februle Convulsion
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