After we got back, we just hopped into the car in search of food. Thank goodness for the GPS. Just punched in that we were looking for food and got a list of all the surrounding places. Ended up going to Church's Chicken. It was okay...nothing to write home about (next time I want fast food chicken, I'd prefer Popeye's I think). The boys loved it though, so that was nice. Took turns having showers and then went to bed. I tossed and turned until 10pm (coincidentally (or not) the same time Alex stopped screaming in the adjoining room he and Jeremy were in). Then I woke at 1am, 2am, 3am, 4am and then 6am when the alarm went off.
Tuesday morning, we checked out of the hotel and took the surface streets to the hospital (so fast and easy....so glad we didn't have to get on the highway). We checked in at 8am, and he was called back pretty quickly. Jeremy went with him while Ben and I stayed in the waiting room. About 20 minutes later Jeremy comes back out looking pretty shaken, and says he couldn't take it anymore. Five minutes after that, two people come frantically looking for us saying that they couldn't be left alone with Alex, that it was a law that a parent had to be in the room. (Apparently Jeremy just walked out of the room without their knowledge, and when they turned around to ask him for help, he was just gone.) I offered to go, but they told us they really needed the extra muscle as they were currently on the losing end. About an hour later, the neurologist came to get me. We went to a room and she told me it was done and they were headed up to Alex's room. Went over some stuff, and then Ben and I got to go up to see Alex.
He was exhausted, and sitting in his stroller. Luckily the stuff on his head wasn't bothering him too much as he's so used to wearing a helmet.
He tried to fall asleep, but the attending pediatrician chose that time to stop talking to us and go poke and prod at him...listening to his heart and testing his reflexes and whatnot. Honestly. Leave him alone!!! Of course, that gave him his second wind...
..which started out giggly, but quickly turned into wanting to leave. He was still pretty tired, so we were able to keep him fairly calm for a few hours. After calling down to order Alex's lunch, I went and brought back cheeseburgers and fries for everyone. Alex ate and ate and ate, which kept him in a decent mood. That was when I left to go check us into the Family House. Ben and I went to the car, and it wasn't until I got there that I realized I needed cash to get out of the garage. That was okay, I needed to take Alex's medicine upstairs to his room anyway. Then, had to go get a reduced parking rate voucher from the info desk, and then find an ATM. When we finally got to the Family House, there were a few pages of rules I had to read through and sign. I let Ben play in the Toy Room for awhile, then we headed back. When we got to Alex room, he was screaming and hitting and the neuro was looking over his EEG. In a nutshell....she told us she couldn't see any seizure activity, and since we weren't concerned about anything happening while he was sleeping, we could probably just call it good and leave. We agreed, and he was released shortly after (though not before having to wrap him in a blanket and hold him down to get all the glue and electrodes back off his head).
So, we were out around 4pm, and went over to check back out of the Family House. Decided to spend time with Jeremy's sisters in Sacramento. Alex was so happy to be out of there, he was full of giggles the whole way. We got to Aunt Sandra's house and swam in the pool before having some pizza for dinner. What a much better way to spend the evening that what we had anticipated!!
Tuesday night, and all of Wednesday we spent in Sacramento. Alex did pretty well, though he was definitely ready to leave Thursday morning. It was great getting the time to visit (even though it was an unexpected visit and we felt we were imposing). The drive home went really well. We stopped in Redding to eat at Olive Garden (yeah, we were feeling brave!). It was not the most relaxing meal, but it worked out and there was no real meltdown. About 20 minutes to home, Alex just started freaking out....and it continued even after we were home. Looking back, I think it was all just him de-stressing. He was finally home and in a safe environment and he just melted down. After getting it out of his system, he was fine....ate dinner, and went to sleep really easily.
And that was the Karen's-typing-really-quick version of our trip. One more picture...because Ben couldn't bear to be left out of the photo taking at the hospital and jumped in front of the camera for this shot:
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