There is something that makes a mom feel a hell of a lot more helpless (and scared) than a mom not being able to make her kid feel better. Hearing your child say, "I can't move my legs mom" and "Mommy, I'm scared" makes you feel one hundred million times more helpless and scared to death.
Marty woke up at about 5am with another neck spasm. Twice, he fell down. At first I thought it was kid drama but, after the second fall, I relized the spasms must be so bad they were making his legs give out. I had him take a hot shower to hopefully help ease the muscles. After his shower, he stretched out flat on the couch. After a minute or two, he let out a yelp. I said, "Dude, if its hurting that bad, change positions." He sat up and then I told him to move his legs into a more comfortable position. All of a sudden, he looked at me and said, "Mom, I can't move my legs." I have never heard anything scarier in my life. I did all the little tests that I was taught to do as a paramedic. When I realized he had little sensation below his waist, I woke my hubby up so he could watch the other kids and I called 911. Believe it or not, I managed to remain remarkably calm...or at least maintained the facade of calm...until the paramedics loaded him into the ambulance. I climbed into the car to follow them in and promptly lost it. I cried and prayed and pleaded until we got to the hospital. Then, I dried my face, fixed a calm expression on my face, and joined Marty in the ER. When the doctor examined him, he had good reflexes but was still almost completely lacking in sensation. The doc scheduled him for a full spinal MRI and then the waiting began. The ER was busy today so there was quite a wait. By the time we got to MRI time, Marty was wiggling his big toes but still nothing else. A full spinal MRI takes about an hour and a half and, it turns out that Marty has a touch of claustrophobia (it felt like the MRI tube was closing in on him) so they gave him a dose of ativan to help him relax for the MRI. Well, the ativan relaxed him enough that he went to sleep...and, when he woke up as the MRI was ending, he could move his legs again. As close as we can figure, when he spasmed so badly this am, it pinched/put pressure on something that caused the temporary paralysis. When the ativan relaxed him, it seemed to interrupt the neck and back spasms and the spasms ending removed the pressure/pinching. Evidently, it isn't unusual for kids who grow very quickly to have muscle spasms because the muscle growth just doesn't keep up with bone growth. What is unusual is the extent of Marty's spasms. Since the MRI was clean and doesn't show any problems, I'm picking up a copy or the MRI to take to his chiropractor and he's going in to get adjusted. Hopefully, he will get as much relief from his spasms as my *sister got from her back spasms this summer.
This was, I think, the most terrifying experience of my life. I told Marty he spent all his "scare the crap out of mom and dad tickets" for the next couple of years and he could not do this again. I do not ever want to feel that scared again.
*My sister had back spasms so horrid this summer that she could barely move. Two adjustments and the issues were totally relieved.
24 comments:
Oh, Kristin! I was just thinking about you. I was getting a big Kristin vibe, and I looked over here, and read your post (it hadn't even shown up on my reader, yet).
I'm so incredibly relieved about Marty. My thoughts and prayers are with him (and you). I heard someone say once that her favorite feeling in the world was "relief." I'm so sorry you had such a bad scare, but so glad it ended in relief.
All the love I can muster is going out to you and your family right now.
I can only imagine how harrowing this was for you. Great job taking care of your son -- I hope the chiropractor can bring some serious relief!
Oh my gosh, poor sweet Marty and Kristin!
I hope this gets worked out for you guys!
Yikes. This is scary. It sounds like you handled it all very well. I hope the chiropractor is able to help and that Marty is soon feeling better.
That sounds like a horribly scary experience! I hope that Marty finds relief for the spasms soon. It's not good for a growing boy to be in so much pain :(
Oh, Kristin! That had to be terrifying! Many hugs to you and Marty!
I am so glad that the sensation returned. I do hope the chiropractor is able to help relieve the spasms all together. Poor guy!
Gentle {{{hugs}}} to you both. Bill and I had a terrifying moment such as this with William when he was little boy.
It wasn't what Marty went through but an experience we wouldn't want to go through again. It was very terrifying.
I am keeping you both in my thoughts and hoping Marty starts to feel better soon.
You are a good mom and Marty will always love you.
OMG that must have been horrible... Hope it never happens again.
Hugs
Oh, God. I would've shit my britches, too. I'm glad he's feeling better, for now. I just hope it's nothing more serious.
Gosh, that is scary! I am so happy y'all are well again.
How scary! So glad he's feeling better!
Oh my goodness! I would have freaked out! I'm so glad his MRI was clean, I hope the chiro can do something for him. I imagine that was terrifying for him too.
I hope it has passed and he/you never have to go through it again.
Best wishes!
Oh man, you all have been through so much. I can bet that adjustments will help. I am a long time neck muscle pain sufferer and adjustments have always done the trick. Glad Marty is okay. Keep us posted!
Yikes! That was scary for me just reading it! I'm glad it wasn't anything serious. Wow.
Oh that is SO scary! I'm glad he's ok now. I hope it doesn't ever happen again! Sending you lots of love and Marty some "never do that AGAIN!" vibes ;o)
*HUGS*
OMG! That's incredibly scary! Glad everything turned out okay. You handled it like a champ!
Hope the chiro gives Marty more relief.
Oh wow, that is so very scary. Glad he's feeling better now.
That is so scary! I hope that he is feeling better soon... (*hugs*)
Oh my goodness Kristin - how absolutely terrifying! I hope that the chirppractic adjustment does the trick and none of you have to go through anything like that ever again!
that is just horrifying. so glad that he is doing better now. HUGS
Oh Kristin what a fright you must have had,
I hope Marty is soon up to his old tricks (like wallwalking again :-)
again.
hugs,
Henny
Very, very scary! I had to call 911 this past summer and once they arrived and I was able to finally assess the situation, I lost it too. Hoping and praying that this doesn't happen to Marty again.
I'm sorry I'm a few days behind - this must've been just awful. And that's an understatement. I hope that this is just growth spurt stuff, and they get to the bottom of it to help you all rest easier. Scary shit. Gawd.
This summer, I had such severe spasms in my left trapezius, that it pinched the nerve behind it, and caused shooting pain down my left side.
A coworker was so stressed at her NICU nurse job, she would have migraines strong enough to lose the ability to speak. Hopefully, being homeschooled will help make all this awful stuff go away!
Hugs to you all!
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