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my son is 6 1/2 years old. so far in the past year he was diagnosed with epilepsy (absence seizures) and abdominal migraines. this ontop of the seasonal allergies he has, and a penicillin allergy. the seizures were fairly easy. we got him diagnosed and with a few switches of meds we got him on lamictal. its controling the seizures wonderfully. now the migraines. not really a migraine headache, but with all the symptoms. he is one very sick little boy for a whole day once a week. vomiting, cant stand the light. like i said, all the symptoms of a migraine headache, without the headache part. it starts with a wobbily feeling then progresses to lots of other symptoms. nothing that suggests a virus or anything.
anyway. i guess my point is he is sick all the time. if its not migraines, then its a cold or something else. he's on meds twice a day. so far 2 different kinds. one of which isnt working so will be changing soon. im not asking for sympathy or doing the 'oh please feel bad for me' thing. i just need to know if there is anyone else out there with sick kids. ryan is such a little ray of sunshine. he is so willing to please everyone. he just wants to make people happy. he's been through so many tests, mri's, eegs, countless bloodwork. he used to LOVE going to the doctor. now he screams and cries. he's having mood swings and sometimes has a very short fuse. and i know it is all due to this. i feel like a failure sometimes. like i screwed him over. im the one who has to take him to all the bloodwork and tests and doctors appointments. oh, and guess what. all the seizures, and migraines and illness comes from ME. this is from my history. it is a direct result of me being his mother. i feel sometimes that i ruined his life. this is stuff that he will have to deal with the rest of his life, all because of me. isnt biology grand
thanks for listening to me rant. poor bishop96 has to hear this alot. sorry gal!

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Suzy Richardson,

Hi Mamabutterfly: I do sympathize with you and what you have to deal with. My son was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy when he was six years old by a neurologist. So I can understand that motherly worry syndrom.

I'm not a doctor or a nurse, however I can make a few suggestions. Other than being diagnosed with epilespy, has he been tested for anything else. I mean I can't imagine they resolved one thing and ignored the other syptoms. There has to be more reasons why he is always so sick. I can check with my sister who too has epilepsy and see what she say's.

I rather be safe and get an opinion of another doctor to see why he has so many sickening headaches and whatever else comes along with it.

One other thing I would like to share with you...as a mom with a child with a terminal illness, I do understand how you feel you have "failed" him due to this illness. One thing I want to tell you IT IS NOT YOUR FAULT!!! there was NO way you knew this would happen to him as much there was no way I knew Tim would have DMD. I did not know I was the carrier of this disease.

Yes, it is so easy for us to feel ashame and guilty for what our children are going through...and for a time we do live with the guilt and shame. But the truth of the matter it is NOT our fault and we do need to stop blamming ourselves for something we have no control over.

We will always love our children for who and wht they are and will always be there for them due to our love and compassion for them.

As I had told other mom's whose children has some type of illness, whether it is chronic or life threatening...think of YOUR child as a gift to YOU from God. God gave YOU that child for a reason. We may not always understand or want to accept His reasons, but there is always a good reason for it. We need to learn to open our eyes and listen to HIm to what He may be telling us. What lessons are we to learn by being this child's mother. He /she is not a curse, nothing or no one to be ashame of.

In my younger years, I went to college to be a school teacher, journalism, media and yet the only job I could get was a CNA/private duty nursing and working in nursing homes. Why? Why am I doing this? I hated the job and the only work i can find for years. I could not understand why I was stuck making beds and cleaning old people's dirty butts!

It was not until I was helping a nurse make my son's hospital bed in ICU after his surgery, that it hit me. God had been preparing me all these years to be my son's caregiver. Me! Little old me was chosen to be his mother and caregiver. God had his reasons for working as a CNA...because He knew.

LOL..now I know, but I'm still trying figure out what He is telling me or teach me, and slowly but surely I'm learning more about HIM...My Caregiver!

thank you deebird611 for your words. it really did make me feel better to hear them. he had mri's and such to rule out tumors or anything of that nature. the MRI came back completely normal. i was diagnosed with epilepsy as a child and also have had migraines for most of my life. when i was really little, up until i was in high school i was borderline anemic so i had to have constant bloodwork and other proceedures. i hope Ryan doesnt have to go through all that. that we will be able to keep his seizures and migraines under control.
the medicine that he was put on for seizures is working wonderfully. but the one for migraines isnt. we're going to try it for a few more weeks, just to see. and if it works, great. if not then we have to come up with some other solution. he needs a preventative, because we dont always see the first symptoms. turns out, for kids his age, there is only one preventative medication for migraines. we are going to have his eyes checked, and then we're going to look into seeing a gastro intestinal doctor. hopefully, we will get somewhere soon. 1st grade wont be as forgiving as kindergarten.

Hi mamabutterfly.
Honestly, you must be a very strong woman. All of my kids are healthy and it's hard. I cannot imagine the strength you must have to be a mom of a child with issues like these. But, I bet you guys do have a great time together and I bet the good days outweigh the hard. I try to make a point of making that happen in my life. Keep us posted on how you are doing.