He didn't have a temperature that Tuesday morning, but I could tell he didn't feel good. He had had a runny nose, maybe a slight cold, for about three days, and he was getting his first molar. I gave him some Tylenol and we dropped him off at daycare. He was fine most of the day there, eating and napping normally. A fever came on really quick late in the day, and he had the seizure at about 5:30pm. It only lasted 30 seconds. They put ice on his belly to bring his temp down. When we got there a few minutes later, he was trembling with chills and his skin was a little purplish. He was babbling on and on with his little trembling mouth.
We went straight to the emergency room, about a mile away. Luckily one of the teachers (the one who speaks English) at the daycare came with us. They took his temperature, almost 104. They gave him Tylenol, took blood, and swabbed his mouth. He, of course, hated all of this, and the poor guy looked and sounded so pitiful.
The hospital in Gallarate.
We were in the pediatric wing, and the halls and the playroom were painted really cute .
A little after 7:00pm, Tim left to take the teacher back to the daycare, and I put Ben down. He was wiped out by now. Then I made a list of all the things I needed him to bring back so I could stay the night. We slept off and on, but they kept coming in to take his temperature, and they taped a little bag to him inside his diaper to get a urine sample. Sometimes when they came, they would try to hand the (rectal) thermometer to me. I let them do it. Then if he needed Tylenol, they would try to hand me the (again, rectal) suppository. So again I said no, I wanted them to do it.
The next morning, Wednesday, the doctor came to check on him. They said it was a virus, but they wanted to keep him until the fever was completely gone, and another 24 hours after that. We had been planning to leave that day, but we decided that we would stick it out another night. No IV or anything, just observation, in case he has another seizure. His temperature was up and down, but they only had to give him Tylenol a couple times.
The second morning, they took his blood and did a swab again. His temperature was just under 100, so no Tylenol, but they reiterated that they wanted to keep him until the fever was completely gone, and another 24 hours after that. I told them that we wanted to go home that day, and they looked at me like I was crazy.
I knew we weren't getting quality sleep in the hospital. They keep coming in to check on you, and if it's not the nurses coming in, it's the cleaning people. And it was so noisy. I think the elevator doors needed a whole bucket of grease. And, I was worried that he would pick up something else being around other sick kids.
Ben was mostly back to himself, but tired, and his fever was nearly gone. With this type of thing, the seizure is almost always harmless (it actually shows that the body is doing what it should), the problem is the fever. He is completely fine now, but anytime a baby has one febrile seizure, they have a little higher than normal risk of having one again, with any fever in the future. As much as I hated not being there for him, I am kind of glad I didn't have to see it, and I really hope it doesn't happen again.
I talked with his pediatrician here in Italy, and the doctor's office in St. Louis. I felt okay taking him home, even though the doctor at the hospital was still against it. We finally left right after lunch on Thursday.
Speaking of lunch, the food was about what I expected. Every meal was served with a bowl of pasta, often times just little BB shapes served in the water it was boiled in. Sometimes it had sauce. Ben also had prosciutto 3 times in the less-than-two days that we were there. For breakfast, Ben's option was tea or milk. I said milk. They brought a big bowl of warm milk, and a packet of plain cookies. I wasn't sure what to do with this, so I tried dipping the cookies in the milk, and I guess Ben liked it. Tim had to keep bringing food up for me. They had some sort of ticket system if I wanted food, but we decided that it would be best to not trouble with that. Overall, the hospital food wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either.
Most of the doctors and nurses didn't speak any English, so we had to stumble through everything in Italian. There were times when there was some confusion, but we made it out okay. They do have really good medical care over here. I still have no idea how much this will all cost. We found out that we are not able to "get into the system" of free health care, but from what info I have pieced together, it is a tiny fraction of the price they would charge in the US. I guess that's good, as long as you don't mind bringing your own soap and towels.
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