What is PICU?

The Pediatric Intensive Care Unit at Primary Children's Medical Center. Why do I care? Because that is where I am right now. Here's the story: Friday at 3:30 p.m., I am just chatting with some co-workers after a faculty meeting and my cell phone rings. It is Taun so I answer because I was interested to find out how the boys were doing (Alex was quite sick Friday morning, vomiting and really lethargic, so Taun stayed home with them). I answer the phone, and Taun says, "They are taking Alex to the hospital in an ambulance again." I run to my classroom as fast as my pregnant body will move and then to my truck and speed home. I was almost hyperventilating when I got home. I saw the ambulances and police cars at my house. I get in the ambulance and ride to the hospital. Alex had another seizure. He started playing; so Taun thought he was getting better. He laid down and shortly after let a blood curdling scream, tightened up, started shaking, his eyes were rolled back and he appeared to stop breathing. Taun called 911 and they took him to the hospital. We were in the ER for about 5 hours while they ran all the tests and x-rays (chest x-ray, blood work, rsv test--big tube shoved down nose, squirt stuff in and suck it back out). Everything looked normal so they released us (about 8:00 p.m.) and we went to get Benjamin from JeriDawn's house. Taun went in to get Benjamin, and I stayed in the car with Alex. About 6-7 minutes later I hear the same blood curdling scream, and I look back to see my baby tight and shaking with his eyes rolled back. Again, he appeared to not be breathing. I jump out of the car and scream for Taun. JeriDawn calls 911 and they Ambulance takes him back to the hospital.

The hospital kept him overnight. He started having seizures again at 4:00 AM. By his time, Logan Regional Hospital decided to transfer him to Primary Children's. He continued to have seizures every 40 minutes, in the ambulance on the way to SLC. By the time we reached Primary Children's he was having seizures every 10 minutes or so. He was given two or three different anti-seizure meds and taken to have a CAT scan. It revealed nothing was majorly wrong with his brain.

It is Sunday night and thus far he has gone through a lumbar puncture, E.C.G, MRI and continuous blood tests. He is a little more alert and not having seizures. By tomorrow he should be out of the PICU into a room in neurology.