Stories of Lost Children
My Beautiful Baby Boy
by Penny Martell, , Maryland, U.S.A.
The doctors told us that epilepsy would not hurt my beautiful baby boy. They were wrong! My husband and I had our worst fears come true on August 22, 2002. The nightmare of epilepsy started in mid January. Jeffrey was 3 months old when he had his first seizure. He had a fever, so they decided it must have been from the fever. His second seizure was on the day he received his 4 month's immunizations the following month. When he left the hospital he was put on two medicines. Jeffrey's doctor kept increasing the dosage to get his seizures under control. In the meantime, they kept telling us "you can learn to live a normal life with epilepsy" and "the seizures will not hurt him". In June, Jeffrey became sick with a bilateral ear infection. On the transfer form one hospital to the other, he went into cardiopulmonary arrest. Thank God! They were able to bring him back. After a short stay in ICU, he was discharged with yet another seizure medicine. Jeffrey continued to have two or three seizures a week. Finally, August 17 arrived. Jeffrey woke up very lethargic and not himself. He had three seizures within 3 hours. My 10 year old daughter and I took him to the emergency room (3 minute drive). He started to have another seizure at the ER. I was asked to leave my baby and was put into a family room for a few hours. When I was able to go back in to see Jeffrey he was on life support. The days that followed, Jeffrey went into liver and kidney failure. His brain, arms and legs swelled with edema. I spent the week at the hospital and watched my son deteriorate. He was in a coma the whole time. On August 22, we had to make the must difficult decision a parent has to make. We took Jeffrey off life support. He had severe, irreversible brain damage from the swelling. Jeffrey passed away in my husband's arms. I know Jeffrey will no longer have to suffer from seizures. Even with this illness, Jeffrey was always laughing and smiling. He enjoyed his short 10 month stay. He brought love and joy to the many people he touched. I know he is with me everyday and I will always cherish the love and joy he brought to my life. My family must now try to learn to live without him in our lives. He will always be loved by all. Jeffrey's Mom
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