She's Coming Home

A day of chaos

Charlotte POV
I'm working with Gabby again. You just need to watch for seizures or breathing problems, give her meds twice, reposition her and sometimes suction. It's usually pretty calm. I just gave her her 12am meds and I'm cleaning the syringes when I hear the pulse ox alarm. I run back into her room and see her having a seizure, I roll her onto her side then get her suction machine and oxygen. It stops after a few minutes so I don't need to do anything else. She has 2 more seizures throughout the night and has to stay on oxygen because her sats are low without it. She wakes up a bit before I have to leave. She starts moving around and having spasms then she pulls her hands up to her face, I think she's trying to figure out what the oxygen is and pull it off.
Charlotte- hey Gabby, good morning. It's just oxygen, I can try taking it off now that you're awake
I pull her hands down and take the oxygen off and she opens her eyes, looking confused
Charlotte- hi, are you feeling ok?
Gabby- hurts
Charlotte- you had 3 seizures last night, that's probably why. Are you ready to get up?
Gabby- ok
Charlotte- ok, lets get you dressed
I get her dressed, usually I get her to help with her shirt but I can tell she wont be able to this morning. Then her phone starts ringing, its the PSW that's supposed to be with her today calling to cancel. I finish getting her up and bring her into the kitchen to find everyone, I have to get home to my son or else I'd offer to stay for a bit longer.

Antonio POV
Matt and I are getting ready for work and getting Shay ready for daycare when Gabby comes in with Charlotte.
Gabby- PSW cancelled
Charlotte- and she had 3 seizures last night and needed to be on oxygen so I left the pulse ox on, sorry I need to go take my son to an appointment
And she leaves
Antonio- ok, Gabby are you ok?
Gabby- tired. Matt can I come shift?
Matt- sure, everyone loves it when you come visit
Antonio- what are you going to do about therapy
Gabby- cancel, I can't go. Can you call?
Antonio- sure, I'll do that on my way to work. What do you want for breakfast?
Gabby- no
Antonio- ok. Do you want to wait a bit?
Gabby- sure
Antonio- ok, I'll go get your stuff ready
I go grab all the stuff she'll needs. Meds, syringes, everything you need for tube feeds because I have a feeling she's not going to eat today. I also grab her oxygen and suction machine because she might need it today. Then I head back into the kitchen to see Gabby wet and Shay standing in front of her
Shay(signs)- sorry mama
Antonio(signs and speaks)- what happened?
Shay(signs)- sorry
Gabby- she spilled her milk on me
Antonio- ok, so let's get you changed
Gabby- braces and chair wet
Antonio- ok
Matt walks into the room
Matt- Gabby are you ready to go?
Antonio- not yet, there was a milk spill, I need to get her changed
Matt- ok, I'm going to let the chief know I'll be a bit late
I take her back to her room and get her changed and take her wrist braces off.
Antonio- ok, I'm going to tell Matt you're ready
Gabby- chair
Antonio- I don't know, it needs to be washed, I'll throw the covers in the wash with your braces. Can you hang out on the couch at 51 today? You're getting pretty good at staying up in the corner of the couch
Gabby- I guess
Antonio- ok, we need to get going
I go find Matt
Antonio- ok, she's dressed, her chair needs to be washed so she can't use it today. She should be able to sit on the couch or something

Matt POV
I put Gabby in my truck then grab both of our stuff and head to 51, Antonio's dropping Shay at daycare. I pull up at 51, get Gabby out and carry her inside.
Kelly- Dawson! I didn't know you were coming today
Gabby- not planned
Kelly- do you want me to go get your chair?
Matt- we don't have it, Shay spilt milk all over Gabby and her chair this morning
I put Gabby on the couch but she wasn't keeping herself up very well.
Matt- do you want to lay down?
Gabby- ya
Matt- here, my office or your old bunk?
Gabby- here
I lay her down and check that the pulse ox is still connected
Matt- ok, are you good?
Gabby- fine
Matt- are you sure?
Gabby- tired, tight. It's fine
Matt- ok

Gabby POV
I don't feel good but there's nothing anyone can do about it unless they have a magical cure for brain damage and seizures so I just want Matt to stop asking if I'm ok.
Other people start coming in, I guess they were still changing. Everyone's happy to see me and asks why I'm here or why I didn't tell them I was coming. I don't have the energy to talk a bunch to explain it to them and my body doesn't want to cooperate.
Gabby- Casey
Matt- the PSW called in sick and Antonio had to work and we're all on shift so she came here for the day. She doesn't have her wheelchair because Shay spilt milk all over it this morning, and she had a rough night so Mouch, you can't kick her off the couch, find a different spot for the day!
That made everyone laugh. I'm glad Matt didn't tell everyone about the seizures, I don't want everyone constantly worrying.
Matt- ok, I need to go change.
He leaves and people start going about their morning, getting breakfast and talking.
Kidd- Dawson, you want breakfast? It's just oatmeal
Gabby- no I'm fine
Matt comes back in
Matt- do you want me to set up a feed
Gabby- ya
Matt- ok, I'll get that and your meds
He comes back into the room with all the stuff then the alarm goes off calling truck and squad. He puts the stuff down on the coffee table
Matt- Brett she needs those meds
Brett- I got it
And he runs out with everyone else except Brett and Violet.

Brett- great, all the guys are gone! Now tell me more about this rough night, you look exhausted.
She comes over and attaches the extension to my tube to start giving me meds.
Gabby- 3 seizures, needed oxygen
Brett- ok, good to know. What do you want to do?
Gabby- probably sleep
Brett- ok, do you want to move to a bunk
Gabby- fine here
A bed would be more comfortable but I don't know if Brett can carry me and I don't want her to have to.
Brett- are you just saying that because its easier for me?
Gabby- worked with you for too long
Brett- so that's a yes, come on
She got me into my old bunk and took my shoes and AFOs off. Then she sat with me and told me about the calls they've been on recently.

Brett POV
Violet came and joined me and Gabby talking about calls so we started telling her about some of our craziest calls. Then Gabby starts having another seizure and the pulse ox alarm starts going off
Violet- what should I do
I roll Gabby onto her side so she won't aspirate
Brett- steal some pillows or blankets to keep her on her side then go grab her suction machine and oxygen from Casey's office.
We get her positioned on her side so we don't need to hold her then I disconnect her feed so her tube won't get pulled on and in case she starts throwing up. Violet comes back with her stuff and we put her on oxygen and suction her mouth. Her sats improve with the oxygen and suctioning so we just wait
Brett- 3 minutes, can you go grab her bag in case she needs rescue meds
Violet- yep
We got the meds ready but the seizure stopped after 4 minutes so we didn't need them.
Brett- ok, she'll probably just sleep for a while now, thanks for the help, you can go if you want
Violet- I'll just go see if the guys are back
She starts walking out then Gabby starts throwing up
Brett- never mind Violet I need you again get back here!
She runs back in
Brett- help keep her head forward so she won't choke
Violet- is this normal?
Brett- you're a paramedic, you've seen seizures before, you know that sometimes people puke after seizures
Violet- I know but in the ambo we assume its not normal, try to stop it and take them to the hospital. I don't have much experience with epilepsy or brain injuries, well I mean we see brain injuries but right when they've just happened. I mean is this normal for her.
Brett- yes, not always but frequently. The problem is that she had meds 20 minutes ago
She seems to have finally stopped.
Brett- ok, time to get you cleaned up Gabs
Violet- I'll go grab some washcloths
Brett- thanks, can you get a new shirt for her too? I think I have one in my locker
When she comes back we move Gabby to laying on a towel on a different bed while I clean her up and Violet changes the sheets of the bed she was on. Once we're done we move her back and get her back on her side in case she pukes again. We took her off oxygen because the nasal cannula was gross but her sats are a bit low without it.
Brett- can you watch her for a minute while I grab my phone and steal a new nasal cannula from the ambo?
Violet- sure
I grab my phone and call dr Manning while I raid the ambo for supplies
N- "hello"
B- "hey Nat, its Sylvie Brett"
N- "hi, how are you?"
B- "I'm good, I just have a question about Gabby"
N- "what's up"
B- "I gave her meds about 20 minutes ago but she just puked after a seizure so I was wondering what I should do about the meds"
I find the nasal cannula and a blue pad to put down in case she throws up again and head back to the bunk room.
N- "give them again since it was only 20 minutes, she probably hadn't really absorbed them, and she really needs the seizure meds"
B- "ok, and that was my other question. This is her fourth seizure since midnight, at what point to we need to bring her in? They've all stopped on their own in under 5 minutes but it seems like a lot"
N- "that is a lot. Is she at 51?"
B- "ya, we're on shift, Antonio had to work and her PSW called in sick so she's here for the day. Everyone but me and Violet are out on call."
N- "ok, can you take her vitals for me?"
B- "sure, she's on the pulse ox but I'll get stuff from the ambo to check her temp and BP. O2 dropped with the seizure so we put her on oxygen but then had to take it off, O2 was still low so I've just grabbed a new cannula for her"
I tell Nat her current sats then get her back on oxygen and tell Nat what they are with oxygen, then get stuff from the ambo and tell Nat all her vitals.
N- "ok, she's fine for now, keep her on oxygen until she's awake and then see how she's doing. If she still needs oxygen when she's awake call me again and we'll reassess. Is Antonio picking her up when he's done work?"
B- "I think so, he'll probably get Shay then Gabby"
N- "ok, I'll text him later but can you also tell him, I want him to bring her in when he's off work. It doesn't need to happen right now, this evening will be fine, I just want to do some bloodwork, it could just be that she's tired but I want to check her med levels and check for an infection. And call me if she has another seizure."
B- "ok, thanks for your help"
N- "no problem, bye"
B- "bye"
Call ended

Brett- ok, are you ok to sit with her while I throw this in the wash
Violet- I can do that, you know her better
Brett- thanks
I just hung out on the bunk next to her to keep an eye on her while she slept, everyone got back about an hour later and Matt came to check on her.
Matt- thanks for sitting with her, is everything ok?
I explained everything to him and took over watching her.