Primary Children's Hospital

Last week seemed like a really long week. Our appointment at Primary Children's Hospital wasn't scheduled until late in the day on Friday so we had all week to think about what was going on with Halen. I think he got sick of me constantly asking him if he was OK and how he was feeling. When I picked him up from school on Thursday, I asked how he was and he said, "I'm fine MOM! And I don't need any more tests either!" I tried not to dwell on the fact that he was going to have to have an MRI done because I didn't want him to worry about it but he knew we were going to Salt Lake and was adamant that he didn't need to have it done.

Our appointment wasn't until 3:45 which worked out well for us so Randy could work for a few hours before catching a flight up to SLC. We wanted to come back on the late flight that night but with it being a holiday weekend, the last flight into St George was pretty full. Instead we decided to drive up to Cedar and fly in and out of there because it was wide open. We left Alex with grandma & grandpa Ogden for the day. Randy's sister, Misty, had come down for the long weekend with her kids so he had fun playing with all of them. Of course that made Halen feel bad because he wanted to stay and play too. I understood how he felt...I didn't want to go either.

We picked dad up at worked and drove up to Cedar to take the 1:00 flight up north. We picked up Randy's parents car then took our time driving up to the hospital. We didn't have anywhere else to go so we got there plenty early.

Halen by the painted pony in front of the hospital

After filling out all the paperwork, we got to meet with the doctor. She just asked a bunch of questions about what had happened and family medical history and did a quick exam of Halen. She said that he wasn't having seizures but has syncope. Syncope is the medical term for fainting. There are things that can set it off faster like being dehydrated, stress or anxiety, standing up too fast, etc. She thinks that between the cold medicine Halen had that morning and the anxiety of having me wipe out his eyes, his syncope was triggered. She said everyone reacts differently when they pass out. Some with go limp, some will be stiff, some will shake. So the fact that Halen went stiff didn't make it a seizure like the ER doctor thought. She didn't think it would cause problems with him having a normal life. We just had to keep him hydrated and help him understand that when he feels those symptoms coming on, he needs to sit down and take it easy for a while.

We were extremely happy to hear the news. It was about the best news we could hear. I know what it's like to be a fainter since I've done it more that 15 times in my life and I've learned what it feels like before it happens so I have a little warning to try to get myself to the floor. I hope Halen doesn't have to deal with it too often, but I think he'll figure out too. He doesn't drink much during the day but this past week he's been more aware of it and has been getting drinks more often. Hopefully that will alleviate most of the problem.

Ya know, the people who have heard about what happend with Halen have all made comments about how scary the situation is and kept asking how I was taking it all. Even my mom said she thought I was taking it pretty calmly. I don't know, maybe I should have been more scared but I think deep down I knew he was fine and that he wasn't having seizures. I'm thankful that I was able to stay calm through it all because I shouldn't be getting too stressed out right now with being pregnant and all. I just hate that it takes moments like these to make us stop and put things into perspective in our lives. It really makes you appreciate the times when you are all healthy...even if those times can be really chaotic. We love you Halen and are so glad that everything turned out so well.