As we waited, there were more seizures; once again the medical reports would list them all as Grand Mal seizures. The seizures were finally at a point where I could recognize what was going on.

I was notified that Bishop Camilo (my ward’s Bishop) had arrived at the hospital. His wife had been part of the neighborhood group that had prayed for us in front of our house that morning. She had called him and told him to head to Primary Children’s Hospital. Luckily, he worked nearby.

Matt arrived shortly afterward (about 10am) and he was rushed back to Laurel’s room. Through tears, I explained to him about the seizures and all of the other happenings of the morning. As we spoke, another seizure began to take over Laurel’s tiny body. I pointed out the signs of the seizure to Matt, since they were still very atypical.

With her breathing still labored, Matt immediately wanted to give Laurel a Father’s Blessing (with the help of a male nurse). Matt was so overwhelmed, he told the nurse that he didn’t know what to say. The nurse calmly told Matt to “just start talking”. He also reassured Matt that he was right there if he needed him.

Through Matt, the Lord blessed Laurel that her breathing would stabilize and that her doctors would be able to accurately diagnose and treat her.

To aid in diagnosis, Laurel was placed on anti-seizure medication, paralytics and an x-ray was ordered. A cat-scan would not be possible until Laurel’s breathing regulated enough to be off the larger oxygen machine.

The ER staff rolled the x-ray machine into Laurel’s room and told Matt and I that they would need to use the space next to her bed (where we were standing) in order to do an emergency x-ray. Matt immediately left the room to open up the necessary space (giving him a chance to update family members in the waiting room). I was, of course, also eager to provide the necessary room for the machine, so I moved my feet off of the floor and put them on the seat that Matt had been using. Thus freeing up all of the standing-room for the x-ray machine.

I wasn’t going anywhere.

The x-ray was sent out for analysis along with some bloodwork. After a short while, Laurel’s breathing finally stabilized enough for her to be taken out for a cat-scan. Matt and I were asked to stay behind while this test was conducted (along with some further tests).

This provided an opportunity for us to update family members who had arrived at the hospital and who were anxiously waiting for more information.

Grandma and Grandpa Isom had arrived and so had Matt’s sisters, Linda and Bethaney. My sister-in-law Cassidy was the first to arrive from my side of the family and I asked her to keep a family-wide text going (as Linda was doing for the Isom’s) so that everyone was aware of what was happening. Bishop Camilo was waiting patiently with the family, and I saw our dear friend Angelica who lives just 2 houses down from us. She is a doctor at the hospital and our other neighbors had already informed her of the situation. Everyone was anxious to hear what was going on and to offer their support.

I asked Cassidy to include my best friend Sheena on the family text. This way she would be able to pass along everything that was happening to our other two besties, Michelle and Amanda. The 4 of us had been pregnant together and we all lived next door to one another until just a year or two prior to this.

They all had kids Laurel’s age at home and we had raised them all together (Laurel, Violet, Beck & Kaylee). They are family and I knew they’d be waiting to hear what was going on. I needed to make sure they were given as much information as possible as quickly as possible.

I can remember just hugging Cassidy. Something was seriously wrong with my baby and I couldn’t understand what it could possibly be. Cassidy has had 2 of her children experience Febrile Seizures and she was telling me that if Laurel was having those as well, she would be okay. I could only nod my head and hope that was what was happening.

I quickly went back to sit in Laurel’s room so that I would be there when they brought her back from her cat-scan.

Matt joined me. At some point we had been appointed a social worker. A social worker? Shortly, it became clear that the social worker was just there to help Matt and me with anything we needed. I hadn’t been to hospitals enough to realize that this was a bad sign about Laurel’s prognosis.

Laurel’s return from her cat-scan was followed by a flurry of activity. A diagnosis was still eluding doctors, but her scan clearly showed that the brain swelling was cutting off the flow of oxygen in and out of her brain. The doctors called in a neurologist right away. The neurologist was concerned by what he saw on the scans and immediately asked that Laurel’s head be elevated. Her breathing was very raspy and they suctioned her nose and throat. There was blood when they did this. The flurry of activity around Laurel increased.

They were able to show us the pictures of Laurel’s brain. We were shown which parts of the scan were the most worrisome. Laurel’s brain was so swollen, the wrinkles that should have been visible on her brain were stretched so much that they could no longer be seen. We could see several masses (2 large, 6 small) that shouldn’t be there. As far as I know, there is still some question as to whether these were tumors or if they were areas where the blood was pooling.

White blood cells are larger than red blood cells. Laurel had 716,000 white blood cells (instead of 10,000). The papillaries in the brain are much smaller than regular veins within the body and the white blood cells’ size and quantity were restricting the blood flow within the brain.

Doctors were able to see where the brain swelling was cutting off the blood flow. This was when I heard them say that the brain had possibly been deprived of oxygen for a few hours. This was also the first time I heard them talk about the possibility of stroke symptoms. Laurel’s ability to have a full recovery was now seriously in question.