Seriously delirious

My youngest son fell fast asleep after bouts of symptoms akin to diarrhea. Before falling into slumber he  went into hypothermia that urged me and my husband to sandwich him between our warm bodies. Earlier I had him drink water spiked with Hydrite powder to replenish his natural electrolyte and potassium reservoir. Only a couple of minutes passed when he woke up with a start seemingly in a drunken stupor. He was incoherent and did not seem to awaken in his dreamlike state. He was not really feverish hence, it was unusual for us to see him that way. In past feverish state, at a temperature of  more than a hundred degree Celsius, he'd still be alert. This time I was scared! I bet my husband was, too!  My husband carried our son out of our bedroom while I tearfully, grabbed shirts, shorts, the medicine given to him after lunch when we first brought him to the doctor. I shouted out orders to my children to prepare stuff for me as well and before I went out of our flat, I saw both my children in tears. They, too, were worried.

As soon as we arrived at the emergency room, I ran to get a nurse and my bunso was immediately attended to. He was then lethargic and was staring into space. When I asked him to look at me and if he knows me, he would not answer. The doctor who saw to him clapped his hands and tried catching his attention to no avail.  

He was confined and underwent several tests, including MRI and a procedure called Lumbar puncture. A fluid, called Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) was collected from his spine for analysis. He was primarily suspected to have gastroenteritis, but because he was not responsive and did not know his name nor ours, the doctors wanted to be sure that he was not afflicted with meningitis or meninggococcima or any of those bacterial diseases that involved the meninges of the brain. We were scared, my husband and I, but my husband was a pillar of strength. He kept admonishing me to stop crying and to remain positive. I can understand his point but I just could not help it where my youngest son is involved.

I was afraid of the possibility that he will never recognise me again (I was probably over reacting but my mind sometimes, in panic, is that way). I just wanted him well. I called to the highest heavens and prayed for my son's fast recovery. I even promised to slow down on sweets and exercise more for good measure as long as my son hurdled through this successfully. It was during this time that I went over my role as a mother. Indeed motherhood is a roller coaster ride and I can say that at that moment I was at the lowest part of the ride.

We stayed in the hospital for 4 days and thankfully, all his tests came back negative. It all boiled down to stomach flu and realised that he may have gotten it from school during a classmate's birthday party. I've always been strict with my kids when it comes to thorough hand washing, good hygiene and general cleanliness. But there are just some things that we can't control when our kids are out of the house. And I just realised that my youngest has been confined in the hospital 3 years in a row. The first time was when we were still in the Philippines while my husband was abroad. I had to rush him back to the hospital due to very high fever that just would not go down, this was in the year 2010. Then in 2011, he underwent T&A or better known as Tonsillectomy and Adenoidectomy. I hope this stops this year.

We're home now and his usual complaint about painful eyes and nausea seem to have gone away. Am just glad we're home, my son is well, and we're all back to normal! :D