A Bloody Mess

Mitchell woke up from a short afternoon nap with blood on his face, arms and sheets. Dry by that time, the remains of his first ever bloody nose didn't seem that major. Flash forward 3 hours when he had his second bloody nose of the day. This time he was in his jumper and the amount of blood seemed much more substantial. I phoned the on call neurologist to inquire whether this was normal.

Keep in mind it's been exactly 1 week since Mitchell's been on Depakote, the seizure medicine prescribed and 3 days of getting the 2 a day dosage. I read some of the disclaimers on the papers from the pharmacist. Decreased platelets and liver damage are possible effects. The neurologist said it would be rare if an issue presented itself so quickly, but it's happened so we were instructed to get blood work taken as soon as we could.

We coordinated my bringing Mitchell to Children's ER. There Mitchell had another nosebleed. This one again more like the first. They were encouraged that clotting happened so quickly. It was recommended we wait on site until the platelet count test returned. 2 1/2 hours after our arrival, it was found levels were normal. They said, maybe he just has a dry nose. Yeah, right. Even the nurse later remarked, "Mom, I'd be here if I were you...the doctor must not be thinking how wet and humid the week has been." Another explanation is a ruptured blood vessel.

Seizure medicine does alter someone so in the end we had no choice but to investigate. Chris and I had just commented on how Mitchell does seem a bit more dopey on the med, but he's also happier and sleeps better. Which means the same goes for us. A good thing. We also haven't seen any of the visible type of seizure since he's been on the medicine.

But, what a bloody mess. I could have done without 3 nosebleeds on top of everything else!