Sorry if I left anyone hanging. I appreciate the texts and e-mails this AM checking on us–my phone battery died. The ER doc was happy with all the labs so we got sent home at 1AM. Rudy slept like a rock and was still out when I left for work this AM.

We just heard from Dr. Corraza’s office (neurologist) and Rudy’s going to spend some quality time with him this afternoon. Rudy gets to wear the fun hat for 90minutes (EEG–and by "fun" I mean "kinda sucky"). Consult afterwards. At least there shouldn’t be any needles. Thanks for your prayers and concern.

Was dozing on the couch in front of tonight’s football game when Max pointed out Rudy’s leg was shaking back and forth–another seizure for about 5 min–this one the first we’ve seen extending to his limbs. Max and Livy were pretty rattled. Trish stayed home and I (Rolf) came to the ER with him. Not sure why he can’t do this during normal business hours. It was a good weekend–arguably even a great one–thanks to an incredible Bayou yesterday and a 60th anniversary celebration for special friends today. Surreal how it can be bookended with stuff like this.

There are some pretty serious cases in the ER tonight (the CHP officers walking around and bringing family members in can’t be a good sign; the guy screaming at the top of his lungs is beyond unsettling). We waited a good bit before the doc came and I even had thoughts of unplugging Rudy and taking off. He was seemed OK, smiled at the couple nurses who remembered him from Friday and giggled when the doc tickled his toes to check his reflexes. I was even apologetic for bringing him in, but when they saw the video we shot (iPhone is a brilliant invention), they were pretty clear it was the right move.

Doc called neuro and came back with news I didn’t want to hear. Needed to take some labs. He was trying to avoid it since they took them Friday and we’re seeing neuro tomorrow anyway, but they just want to check sodium and digoxin levels before they send us home. Rudy was fast asleep and it ended up taking two sticks to get the blood they needed. Gave the Screamer a run for his money. Just. Plain. Sucks.

Going to have to wait an hour for labs. In addition to his hatred of the needles, Rudy has also protested every time he’s been placed on the bed–he doesn’t want to stay. So he’s fast asleep in his chair, save for the occasional catching-his-breath-after-a-good-cry noises, and I get the bed. We wait.

So, our simple Friday night date didn’t work out as we planned (Notice Trish’s pearls in last night’s picture?  We were actually going to take it up a notch for dinner, but I’m sure the ER team appreciated one of us dressing up a bit for the occasion.)  They let us out at 10pm–just in time for us to fall back seamlessly into the various kid pickups after the high school football game (Yeah, Chargers!–Big win!)

We’re so grateful for the ER team at Cottage.  Despite being repeat customers I don’t think we’ve ever had the same nurse or doctor, but they all take such special care of Rudy.  Once the intake nurse gets a sense of his history (the three-page packet we hand them when they start asking the intake questions gives them a quick understanding that this isn’t a typical patient), they get him into a room immediately and the docs listen very carefully and start making calls to the Team Rudy docs locally and at UCLA.  Can’t tell you how comforting this is as, with a complex history like Rudy’s, you just don’t want a new doc to come in and start making calls without knowing the big picture.

Rudy had a 10 minute focal motor seizure at Max’s hockey game and was pretty wiped out (as usual) and breathing really irregularly (more concerning), so Trish called me (I was coaching Livy’s soccer practice) and we decided to take him in.  His color wasn’t good and his lungs required lots of suctioning, so there was concern that he had perhaps aspirated some fluid into his lungs.  After some extensive breathing treatments, labs and a chest Xray, he fell fast asleep and the ER doc communicated with Dr. Dan (who doesn’t mind me calling on his cellphone when he’s on a weekend trip with his family–LOVE that), neurology and the fellows at UCLA.  The ER didn’t like the way his right lung looked and wanted to get a comparison chest Xray from his last visit at UCLA.  As that’s his bad side, there’s all kinds of stuff there from pleurodesis, etc, so we weren’t majorly concerned.  He was looking pretty good so they let us go home and we’ll follow up with neurology on Monday to see if the meds need to be adjusted.

He was a bit cranky every time anyone touched him, until he realized we were putting his clothes on him.  A big smile came out of nowhere and he waved and blew kisses to the nurses as we busted out of there.

Not the evening we planned on, but knowing of a couple heart families in our network are going through some incredible heartbreak right now, we’re grateful it was just a hiccup.  We’re also extremely grateful for the network of friends here in the community who jump in on the spot to help at times like this–finishing up soccer practice (Greg and Kara), running our kids to the places they need to get to (Lyn) and just caring so much about Rudy.

Big day ahead at the Bayou (the annual Rescue Mission benefit).  Gonna be awesome!  Stay tuned…

PS–Funny side note for heart parents–Out of instinct, we walked into the ER with a mental list of supplies we needed and immediately started working the RT for trache/breathing stuff.  Maybe it was the pearls, but the guy was way too easy a mark and we came home with about six months’ worth of supplies only to realize this morning that the trache is getting pulled in less than two weeks.  Contact us if you’re looking for something.  Some instincts are hard to suppress ;-).

The big kids all had plans so Trish and I were gonna have a little date with Rudy. Didn’t really have the location worked out but Rudy decided Cottage ER would be nice. Little seizure episode. Docs are checking a few things through with UCLA. Should be outta here soon!