Last Monday morning was the 1st day of spring break for the boys. My husband and I had the trip all planned out. We would leave OKC @4:30 am heading to Atlanta Ga. We decided that we'd stop for breakfast at Cracker Barrel in Little Rock; be prepared to eat lunch in Memphis and arrive in Birmingham, AL ready to check into our hotel for the night. We'd wake up on Tuesday in Birmingham ready to visit the Civil Rights Museum and then drive the final 2 hours to our destination in Atlanta.
Byron and I graduated from Morehouse and Spelman Colleges, respectively and we were so ready to show the boys our old stomping ground. They were psyched, we were psyched and the Coleman's were ready to begin a week long driving adventure. Obviously, the Lord had other plans for us.
Byron woke up and showered before I woke up. He was on the other side of the house, in the kitchen, ready for the word to begin loading the car. It was time to wake the boys up, so we could begin the trip. I went to Courtland's room first and told him to get into the shower. He jumped up immediately with expectancy and went into the bathroom. I had gone back into my bathroom, which abuts the bathroom where Courtland has turned on the water in the shower. I honestly don't know how much time had elapsed before I heard a "thud" and the shower curtain rods falling. I dropped everything and ran to the bathroom, knowing that something happened but not prepared to see what I saw.
When I opened the bathroom door, I immediately noticed the missing shower curtain and I expected to see and hear Courtland trying to get up. However, the scene was quite different. I saw his legs in the air and his torso was wrapped in the shower curtain, but he was NOT moving. I screamed his name and reached to pick him up, as I noticed his bloodshot eyes, blazing straight ahead. I immediately began my blood curdling call for Byron, with instructions to call 911. As I began unwrapping him from the shower curtain, he went into a tonic-clonic seizure and began convulsing. By this time, Byron is on the phone with the operator, my other son was an emotional wreck and I was praying. I was straddled on the side of the tub, attempting to hold his body on the side until the convulsing stopped. I managed to hear Byron's questions from the 911 operator, assure Chandler that his little brother would be fine and hear the prayers of my mother coming from my mouth. Nelda (Mommy) was in that bathroom because I remember hearing her prayers over me since I was a little girl. I knew to call on the name of Jesus and to begin to proclaim healing and restoration. The convulsions ended and he laid on the floor unconscious, but breathing. Shortly afterwards, we heard the firetruck sirens headed to our home. Medical help was on the way; but the real help was already in that bathroom with us!
Four strapping firemen walked into our home and I moved out of the way. They decided to move my baby out of the bathroom and placed him on his bed, which was directly across the hall. Because he'd fallen on his back, they placed him in a neck brace and put him on the board. They wanted to make sure that he hadn't injured his spinal column, which could ultimately affect his spinal cord and his ability to move. After the firemen, then came EMSA and I began relaying the same account of my story. Of course, this warranted a trip to the hospital, so we headed out to Children's Hospital. I rode in the front of the ambulance, as Byron and Chandler shut the house down and drove behind us.
Courtland was still in a daze and the EMSA worker said to me, as we were wheeling him in, "I'm concerned that we have not gotten a verbal response from him". I was baffled that he actually said this out loud to the patient's mother. Are you serious Sir? This is something you whisper to another worker, NOT the boys mama. I rebuked the devil and prayed even louder, as we approached the ER room bay #12. As the hospital team began to hook him up to their machines, the doctor asked a question and after 25-30 minutes of no verbal response, Courtland said, YES. He spoke and the EMSA worker looked at me with surprise and joy in his eyes. I simply said, "thank you Lord" and focused again on my child.
As time progressed, he began to emerge from the fog by talking, while holding my hand. They rolled him away to get a CT scan. Results: No sign of tumor or brain bleed. And he also needed just 3 stitches on his right eyelid. After about 4 hours, things were back to "normal" and he was being discharged with instructions to follow up with his pediatrician. We went home and he slept on the couch for the next few hours. Needless to say, we were at the pediatrician's office by 1 pm that afternoon. It was there that we talked about possible causes, future tests, neurological follow up and concussion protocol.
WHAT A DAY!
Needless to say, the Atlanta trip was off but we definitely needed a change of scenery. We were ALL emotionally and physically drained and the pediatrician thought it would be alright for us to travel; so the next day we drove to Dallas. For the next few days Courtland was tired, the muscles in his legs pained him when he walked and his mouth hurt; but he was alive and well. So we popped Aleve, rested, kissed, hugged and prayed a whole lot. By Thursday, he was back to himself and not complaining of pain. His laughter was refreshing! Thank God for favor....we were able to set all of his doctors appointments for Monday. EKG, EEG and vision test all scheduled (he mentioned blurry eyes when he got into the shower that Monday morning). So why did I tell you all of this? I am just amazed at the awesomeness and grace of God. Our family has learned to trust God completely through this situation. Although we were disappointed by not being able to travel to Atlanta, we began to think about the dangers that the Lord may have been keeping us from on the highway. Psalms 91 talks about how God has angels watching over us. (We definitely had our angels, with eyes laser-focused on us.) Because I am always concerned about the condition of your soul, I want to encourage to know God for yourself. My medical knowledge didn't force me into action, because I was looking at MY baby. It was nothing but the Holy Spirit that allowed me to stay level headed and PRAYERFUL. That's why I openly pray with the boys daily. I pray over them, but I also invite them to pray for us from time to time. In fact, when big brother was frantic I encouraged him to pray. "You know how to talk to God, so go ahead and pray baby". Although I never heard him, I know he was pleading with God as he cried for his little brother. There is power in calling on the name of the Lord, NOT in fear but in Faith. I believe that this was his first and last seizure, but we're going to do some precautionary things until we get some real answers. I hope that you never have to experience anything like this, but if you have a relationship with God and converse with Him daily, you will be able to handle it.
Now start praying & praising and walk it out...
The picture of Courtland is from today after church. Doesn't my baby look great?! If I hadn't mentioned his ordeal today, no one would have ever noticed any change. That's just how good God is! Yes, thumbs up Baby....it's all good!
