Well, Hunter and I have now both had hospitalizations, in the last month, that were not psychiatric related. Woot! I almost sound like a snob saying that but it feels GOOD!
Because hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20, Hunter had been showing lithium toxicity for about two weeks. Stupid me attributed the clumsiness, confusion, slightly slurred speech and headache to Hunter just being Hunter. (Yeah, I'm totally beating myself up about this.) The school was even sending notes home saying Hunter was sleeping in class, confused and that he even told the teacher he "felt like a cartoon character".
In short, all the notes pointed to Hunter just not acting quite right. Last Tuesday the school nurse sent home a note saying Hunter was coughing a lot, congested, had a headache and, upon examination, one of his ears was slightly red and retracted.
On Thursday I kept Hunter home from school and, to totally mollify the nurse because I thought she was making a mountain out of a molehill because Hunter was showing none of these symptoms at home, I took him to the doctor. Just as I thought, none of the symptoms the nurse listed turned out to be anything. Ha! I thought to myself. Take THAT Ms. School Nurse! The doctor still played it safe and put him on an antibiotic.
Hunter was still acting like Hunter (as mentioned above) so I sent him to school on Friday. Friday night he threw up but I didn't give it a second thought because it could have been something he ate, blah, blah, blah -- and he only threw up once and there was no fever.
Saturday morning Hunter was clumsily making his way through the kitchen when a tremor took over his whole body and he dropped to the floor. He didn't lose conciousness and Hunter is not very coordinated to begin with. So, again, I thought nothing of it. Later on Henry and I packed up Hunter to go look at the marina where we are going to dock our boat and look at a boat the marina has for sale. Hunter stayed on the ground as Henry and I climbed aboard to take a look around. Suddenly I heard Hunter screaming that he was throwing up. We packed Hunter up again and drove home. I sat Hunter on the living room floor and as I was removing his shoes he had another total body tremor that knocked him over. I put his shoes back on and we left for the emergency room.
I don't remember the exact numbers but his lithium and potassium levels were up around 6. Around 2:00 AM Sunday morning Hunter was transferred to Children's Hospital's ICU where he stayed until about 4 o'clock this afternoon. They continue to pump IV fluids but his kidney function is very low and, oh, by the way, yesterday they found blood in his urine. I just found out about that about an hour ago.
At 10:00 AM yesterday morning his lithium was at 5.9. They just did another blood draw so we'll see what that has to say.
I think it is safe to say that Hunter will no longer be taking Lithium. At least if I have anything to say about it. Never, ever, ever again will I assume Hunter is just being Hunter. I have learned an almost fatal lesson.
Because hindsight is ALWAYS 20/20, Hunter had been showing lithium toxicity for about two weeks. Stupid me attributed the clumsiness, confusion, slightly slurred speech and headache to Hunter just being Hunter. (Yeah, I'm totally beating myself up about this.) The school was even sending notes home saying Hunter was sleeping in class, confused and that he even told the teacher he "felt like a cartoon character".
In short, all the notes pointed to Hunter just not acting quite right. Last Tuesday the school nurse sent home a note saying Hunter was coughing a lot, congested, had a headache and, upon examination, one of his ears was slightly red and retracted.
On Thursday I kept Hunter home from school and, to totally mollify the nurse because I thought she was making a mountain out of a molehill because Hunter was showing none of these symptoms at home, I took him to the doctor. Just as I thought, none of the symptoms the nurse listed turned out to be anything. Ha! I thought to myself. Take THAT Ms. School Nurse! The doctor still played it safe and put him on an antibiotic.
Hunter was still acting like Hunter (as mentioned above) so I sent him to school on Friday. Friday night he threw up but I didn't give it a second thought because it could have been something he ate, blah, blah, blah -- and he only threw up once and there was no fever.
Saturday morning Hunter was clumsily making his way through the kitchen when a tremor took over his whole body and he dropped to the floor. He didn't lose conciousness and Hunter is not very coordinated to begin with. So, again, I thought nothing of it. Later on Henry and I packed up Hunter to go look at the marina where we are going to dock our boat and look at a boat the marina has for sale. Hunter stayed on the ground as Henry and I climbed aboard to take a look around. Suddenly I heard Hunter screaming that he was throwing up. We packed Hunter up again and drove home. I sat Hunter on the living room floor and as I was removing his shoes he had another total body tremor that knocked him over. I put his shoes back on and we left for the emergency room.
I don't remember the exact numbers but his lithium and potassium levels were up around 6. Around 2:00 AM Sunday morning Hunter was transferred to Children's Hospital's ICU where he stayed until about 4 o'clock this afternoon. They continue to pump IV fluids but his kidney function is very low and, oh, by the way, yesterday they found blood in his urine. I just found out about that about an hour ago.
At 10:00 AM yesterday morning his lithium was at 5.9. They just did another blood draw so we'll see what that has to say.
I think it is safe to say that Hunter will no longer be taking Lithium. At least if I have anything to say about it. Never, ever, ever again will I assume Hunter is just being Hunter. I have learned an almost fatal lesson.
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