And the rollercoaster ride continues........

Well, it's Sunday night and we all thought we would be sleeping in our own beds tonight. Max had a restful night and woke up feeling fine (well, as fine as he can feel right now). He was hungry but when his food came didn't want to eat, and when he got up to use the bathroom he screamed that his head hurt really really bad. We got him into bed, gave him Tylenol, and the pain subsided. The doctor came in and said that the lab results still aren't indicating bacterial meningitis and a few other viruses have also been ruled out (West Nile and another one I can't remember). She said since it's viral we could really take care of him at home, and since he had had a really good day she would get discharge papers ready. I was a little nervous, but still excited to get my little man home and give him some normalcy. He was sitting there talking to me when all of a sudden he screamed and was pointing to his mouth. His face was distorted and twitching badly and he couldn't talk. I screamed for Darren to get the nurse and they came in and determined it was a two minute seizure, which can be a side effect of viral meninigitis. It was the most awful feeling, seeing him helpless, wondering why he couldn't talk or control his body. Even more awful was looking over at my husband, my strong, calm, even tempered rock- sobbing, with nurses around him comforting him. We were both terrified about what had happened, but the nurses reassured us that he didn't have brain damage, didn't stop breathing, and tolerated it well, with all of his vitals remaining stable. Still scary, but I guess I'll take what I can get these days. The rest of today has been uneventful, with the exception of a short bout of severe abdominal and back pain. We still aren't sure what that was about, but he got through it and is hanging out now with Dad, eating pizza and watching football.
That boy has had me wrapped around his finger since November 30, 2003 and I'm going to have a tough time letting him out of the bubble I have him in now! I can't wait for his room to be a disaster, for him to change clothes five times in a day - and leave them all on his floor, to not flush the toilet, and to leave his football on my living room coffee table. We told him today - mom and dad are weak right now- it would be a good time to start your birthday list:) I feel like giving that kid the world. If love, kisses, and prayers alone could have cured him, we would have been out of here long ago.
Thanks again to everyone helping us out - tears of gratitude are pouring out as I write this. Because of friends and family we have been able to put our whole selves into helping our son heal and feel comfortable without any worries about taking care of the girls. Pray for another restful night.........and no more excitement!! Darren and I have had about all of the ups and downs we can handle for a while!
**Sidenote** Thanks to my aunt Karen for the hookup in the Peds ICU. She knows of two very qualified doctors in that department who were willing to review Max's charts and give us their opinion..........we were happy to hear that he (the one who reviewed the files) would be on the same track as the doctors have been and that he was very impressed with the course of action that has been taken with Max. Good to hear, and so nice to have another view point. We have been very happy with the doctors, but it was reaqssuring that he didn't feel like we had missed anything.