Happy Easter

Poor Soren is sick. He came down with a cold yesterday. So he won't be going to his Grandpa Denny's today, because I don't think it's cool to infect others. The bummer about Soren being sick (besides just the general bummer of having a sick kid) is that it's hard to get his AEDs into him. I have to do this twice a day and with a loss of appetite and conking out, it becomes rather frustrating. And then there's the fear of seizures resurfacing.

Which leads me to my topic today. And while it should be obvious, I'll write about from my perspective. If you or your child has a cold or other illness and your friend's child with epilepsy is coming over to visit--WARN THEM ABOUT THE ILLNESS!!!!

Now, this should be common courtesy whether your friend has a child with epilepsy or not, right? It should be a general rule that you don't want to get your friend's kid sick. But the difference is, if your friend's child has epilepsy and the child gets sick, seizures could be brought on or worsen. When a child with epilepsy's defenses are down, the seizures can become much more intense. If the child is lucky enough to have control of his or her seizures, they could return because the body is busy fighting the cold instead of the seizures.

I have a friend whose daughter had Infantile Spasms that were controlled by the first drug she took--a miracle in itself. The child had been seizure-free for a while and was now off the drug. But then they were invited to a birthday party and the child whose party it was had Hand Foot and Mouth Disease (HFMD). The mom giving the party didn't tell my friend about the birthday girl being infected with HFMD until they were standing there chatting at the party. The mom explained that she just couldn't cancel the party--it would be SO disappointing for her child. My friend then looked over at her daughter and saw her blowing on a party kazoo thing (HFMD can be spread through saliva) and knew this was going to lead to trouble.

It did. Her daughter lost seizure control. They reintroduced the drug, but it no longer had any effect. So they had to start their search once again to find a drug to control the seizures. And all because this mom was too inconsiderate to call off a party for her sick, infectious child. Lame.

So don't be lame. Have common sense. Be happy that your child's worst problem is a cold. But don't spread it around.

Amy