A fifteen year old boy collapses and has a grand mal (convulsive) seizure in his high school classroom. Fast action by school officials results in the prompt arrival of paramedics. The paramedics place two IV lines in the boy’s arms in case IV medications are needed once the transport to the hospital is complete. (I know this---they routinely attempt to place them in Michael’s arms, and when he’s not in a severely agitated post-seizure state, sometimes they get them in). In this boy’s case, (I’ll call him Jon since I’ve promised anonymity) lucky, lucky Jon, they had the IVs in place once he was brought in to the Emergency Room.

As his Mom’s physician fiancé explains it; next Jon “crumped”; a common way for those of us in health care to describe someone who has dropped their blood pressure off the meter. “Crumping”---the act of losing your patient if you don’t do something REALLY, REALLY FAST. In Jon’s case, they began infusing two drugs to increase his blood pressure----get that blood flowing through the vital organs before permanent damage was done!  Impatient because the intravenous pump was too slow to infuse Jon’s body quickly with an incredible amount of fluid (3- 4 liters in minutes!!!), family members held his arms still while medical staff hand-pumped the necessary fluids into the young man’s body. Would it be enough? Did they act quickly enough? Would there be residual organ damage? Yes…yes…and probably not! Hooray!

Now for the blessing part---. Jon had pneumonia and was in septic shock. His brain reacted to this severe assault by seizing. The seizure got everyone’s attention and resulted in quick action. What if he had “crumped” at school? --- no paramedics,--- no IV lines,--- no meds,--- no blood pressure. He may have died.

So… lucky Jon spends a little time in the hospital to recover. His parents breathe now----they have dodged a major bullet. When it comes time to return to school, Jon wonders if it’ll be okay. What will kids say? How will they react to him? He is reluctant because everyone knows about, and some even saw him having a seizure. He is afraid---afraid of the stigma. He reminds me, Jon does, that we have miles and miles to go in our journey to erase the myths, promote understanding, and eliminate the stigma associated with seizures and epilepsy. Note: of course his schoolmates welcomed him with open arms----

Bless you lucky Jon and your loving family as well. May you lead a long and joyous life. Carpe Diem!