Don't assume it's "Just the Flu"

2 years ago, my 10 year-old daughter got the flu. She was feverish and lethargic for a few days, then she got better. So when my 12 year-old son came down with the same symptoms --- feeling tired, mild stomach upset, low grade fever --- I figured he had the same thing and would go through a similar recovery.

3 days later, he couldn't walk, talk or eat. We took him to our family doctor who sent him to the Emergency Room. The doctors who treated him there said they had 'never seen these symptoms" in a child his age, so he was rushed to Children's Hospital where he spent several days in Intensive Care.

After much testing, he was diagnosed with ADEM --- which basically meant he had a lesion on his brain stem that was systematically destroying various body functions. The doctors determined that it started with a simple flu virus that lodged in his brain stem, then his immune system misfired and began attacking the brain itself. Eventually it shuts down everything, including the body's ability to breathe on its own and maintain basic heart function. If we had not sought medical help when we did, he would have died or been severely brain damaged. As it is, the ADEM increases the possibility that he will be diagnosed with other neurological problems (such as M.S.) later in life. He will need to be evaluated on a regular basis for the rest of his life.

Here are the symptoms his doctors said NO PARENT SHOULD EVER IGNORE:

1) Fever of over 104 degrees.
2) Sudden loss of ability to maintain balance.
3) Sudden loss of consciousness.
4) Sudden loss of ability to speak or hold a basic conversation.
5) Inability to wake up or to remain awake.
6) Extreme disorientation or severe confusion over familiar surroundings.

If your child exhibits ANY of these symptoms, get medical help IMMEDIATELY. Even a short delay could result in devastating longterm consequences. And if it turns out to be 'just the flu,' all the better! But don't take chances with your children's brain health --- there is very little margin for error.