A few days ago, I was standing in the kitchen getting ready for breakfast preparation. My elder son came to me and told that he was having nauseous feeling. I told him to bring me the medicinal syrup so that I may give him.
Giving him the instructions I walked towards the refrigerator which is a few feet away from the kitchen. It is placed towards the stairs from where the kitchen is no more visible.
I had just opened the door of the refrigerator when I heard a voice, “Mammaaaaaa" followed by a bumping sound. I couldn’t make out what had happened. (voice “mamma” and bumping sounds are a normal hearings in a joint family where there are many kids. At times it is even difficult to figure out which child is calling out due to similar voices).
As soon as I crossed the door and the site became visible to me, I had to rush. The sight was alarming.
My son was lying on the floor with his limbs a bit crooked, his spectacles askew, and his lips in blood.
I dragged him, made him lie on my lap and threw some water on his face to bring him back to consciousness.
He was back to senses but his speech was still not normal. He was drawling, “I......... Waaaaaas teeeeelliiiiiingg yoooouuuuu......”
I made him drink some water and rubbed his hands and feet. He was feeling really weak. After a short while I took him to bed holding him from his shoulders tightly.
It was not the first time when he fainted and went unconscious. The incident has happened at more occasions.
More than three years ago we were in a restaurant. We had a discussion about what to order. Amidst this discussion he suddenly started sitting down and then moved inside the table.
For a while we (I and the husband) thought that he was going inside the table (as young kids do as a play). However, soon we realized that he had fainted.
His face and lips turned white. He was unconscious. After a short while he came back to consciousness. I took him to washroom because before fainting down he was complaining about stomach pain.
After returning from the washroom, he returned to normal condition. His lips and face got the colours back. Nevertheless, he didn’t eat much. Neither did we.
It was the first time we witnessed the issue with him. Fainting didn’t appear again for several months. However, something I noticed is that stomach pain and nausea make his skin and lips white as if the blood has gone out.
Once I got a call from his school that he had fainted during assembly and so we should fetch him back to home.
There was another occurrence where I observed every bit of the changes in his body in his transition from being conscious to unconscious.
He had developed lesions of molluscs contagiosum on his face. I took him to the hospital for treatment. The lesions were to be removed by needle.
Local anaesthesia was applied to mitigate the procedural pain. When the procedure began, I started talking to him on his favorite topic so that he may remain distracted from the pain.
My eyes were on his face. He was smiling in response to my conversation and suddenly I realized the changes.
His facial features started twisting. Then I observed his limbs crooking. Then tumbling down from the chair he fell on the ground.
We rushed to the hospital’s emergency. Thankfully, my doctor friend reached there. Else the doctors in the Emergency were eager to prove me a bad mother.
The scene remained in my eyes for many days. I still can see every bit of it in flash back. It was terrifying to see the twisting of his body parts.
Nevertheless, the most recent incident that I mentioned in the beginning made me more worried. It is the first time when he got an injury. His chin, inner and outer lips got injured. It made eating difficult for him.
My sister-in-law told me that she witnessed a case of a boy who would fall like this. Later he was diagnosed with Epilepsy. It made me anxious.
I asked the doctor for having any such chance. The doctor told me that Epilepsy is different. In its attacks there is no trigger. The person falls down without any stimulus.
On the other hand, in case of my son’s incidents there is always a trigger. A pain or long standing or tiredness.
The explanation relieved me. I am grateful to God for saving my son from a horrible illness. Nevertheless, fainting and falling down suddenly is still worrisome.
I fear if such a thing happens at place when there is no adult beside him. What if he loses consciousness at stairs. Both his school and our home is upstairs. It is quite terrifying to think of the consequences.
Though I have guided him if he ever feels like going unconscious (he gets the clues a few seconds before) he should sit down where ever he is and make a cry for attention from whosoever is near him, yet the heart of a mother still terrifies.
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This post is my participation for Hive Learner’s featured contest.
Image by Sarah Khan on unsplash