Briggs & Lynn: Our June 2022 trip to Hawa'....er, never mind...

I need to set the scene for you.

We told the kids about Hawaii MONTHS AGO. They were so excited. Literally asked me every day how many days away our trip was.

Two weeks prior to our trip, I noticed a strange red line on Lynx's face (picture below this story). It didn't go away, so I brought him to the doctor the Thursday prior to Hawaii (June 16). The doctor didn't know what it was, but said she'd ask a few pediatrician-friends and get back to me.

Saturday morning, Lynn took the kids to Nova's first swim meet while I packed. For, like, three hours.

Saturday evening, we drove to a hotel near Dulles Airport because our flight was at 6 am Sunday morning.

We fed the kids a quick dinner, and they went to sleep.

I headed out to the nearest Panera to grab something for Lynn and me.

While ordering food, I got a call from the pediatrician. She's confirmed that Lynx has Lyme disease! Oh no! So I look up a 24-hour pharmacy near the hotel for her to send the prescription to.

I texted Lynn to tell him Lynx has Lyme disease! no response from Lynn...which is very strange.

I walked back to the hotel, to see that everyone is awake. Lynn said, "I think Lynx had a night terror or something. He was kicking Nova and now he's just sitting there."

I said to Lynx, "Are you ok? What's wrong? Are you scared?"

He didn't look at me. Just stared into space.

Typically a bath will soothe him and wake him out of his night terrors.

So, I draw a bath and he stood in it. Instead of sitting down, he stood, staring off into the distance, while methodically kicking the water.

I pulled him out and now he's shaking and clicking his tongue. I said, "Lynn, find an urgent care."

Then, the shaking got worse, and I said, "Lynn, never mind. Just call 911. Something's really wrong."

The EMT's rush over - several firemen, a few EMTs, a LOT of support came our way. Lynx still won't talk, won't make eye contact. Just staring into space.

They saw him sitting there, able to breathe, looking normal to THEM. They took his temp - 97.8. He doesn't have a fever. The EMT said, "You want me to bring him to the ER? He seems fine to me, maybe he's just shy?"

I said, "No, this is not how he behaves. I think he had a seizure. He has to go to the ER."

Off we went in an ambulance to the Reston, VA ER. While in the ambulance, the pediatrician calls me, to say that she's still on hold with the pharmacy about the Lyme medication. I said, "Well, now I'm in an ambulance because we think Lynx had a seizure." She was STUNNED. Then said maybe he has meningitis!

We check into the ER. They take his temperature and it was 101.2. I'm confident it had gone down since the hotel since I had him naked while in the bath, and he just had undies on during the ER ride.

They gave him an incredible amount of Tylenol while I asked him lots of questions.

For the first 30 minutes or so, he wouldn't respond to me. Just rolling his eyes, staring into space. Every 5-7 minutes, I'd ask him a new question. He eventually started nodding yes or no. Then, finally, about 45 minutes, I asked him, "do you want me to tickle your knee?" and he said, "Yes." PHEW. An audible YES.

Then, "what's this?" as I point to his stomach. He said, "tummy." Then, he knew what his "ears" were. THANK GOD.

Finally, I asked him, "Who did we play tennis with today?" When he said, "Olivia." I knew he'd come back.

So, I said, "Lynx, do you want me to stop asking questions so you can sleep?" He said, "Yes." So I hollered down the hallway to the doctor, "Can he sleep now?" because they had said not to let him sleep in case he had a concussion. But that was a long time ago. The doctor said, "Yes!" So lynx slept.

After an hour or so, the doctor returned to say he isn't testing for meningitis because it's not meningitis. He said he was confident, based on how Lynx came out of the seizure that the seizure was just a febrile seizure and not related to the Lyme. THANK GOD.

Another hour or so later, the doctor came with the test result: COVID. Lynx's fever was caused by COVID, which also caused the seizure.

So, they wanted us out of the ER ASAP, which was great. Discharged within minutes, and waited for Lynn to pick us up.

Back at the hotel, he cried every hour or so, miserably. But I slept with him and soothed him throughout that night, and the next two nights

He was sick with a fever and congestion and crankiness for about three days. Then, I got it and I just couldn't sleep. My hips ached and I was so anxious about him having another seizure AND about getting him his Lyme disease medication on time (amoxicillin) that my mind wouldn't stop. I fell asleep between 3-5 am for that week.

Lynn left for Hawaii on Tuesday, June 21 to attend his conference. So, the kids watched TV for 11 hours a day while I laid down all day...since I couldn't sleep at night! Eventually, I pulled out the slip + slide for them to use in the afternoons.

By July 1, we emerged from our quarantine and went to the pool, where we've been basically every day since. :)

We're going to Hawaii in February instead. You know, maybe. :)