Ethan and Ashley

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“What was supposed to be the best year of my life was pretty hard. I had just lost my mom and I was sitting there holding my son thinking, ‘Am I going to lose him, too?’

 

Ethan was born [in 2016] with hydronephrosis (when the kidneys don’t fully empty urine into the bladder) so we go in for regular ultrasounds because he’s prone to infections. The results have shown it hasn’t gotten better but it hasn’t gotten worse either, so we thought we were in the clear… then he started taking seizures.

 

The first time it happened, my husband was holding him. Ethan just got really tense, his jaw made this noise and buckets of drool were pouring out. I thought it was an allergic reaction; epilepsy doesn’t run in our families. We called 911 and took Ethan to Emerg. They confirmed it was a seizure. He returned to his happy, normal self, so we all felt confident about going home.

 

The next morning, Ethan was sitting on the floor and he went straight and stiff. He bit his tongue and blood starting gushing out of his mouth. I grabbed him and held him as my husband drove us to the hospital. Ethan kept having seizures and he wasn’t coming out of them. He wasn’t responding to me. He wasn’t looking at me. I thought my baby was going to die.

 

The doctor in Trauma explained that Ethan has cluster seizures, which means he doesn’t have just one, he has multiple. Our pediatrician came right away that day. They ordered bloodwork and an MRI, which was scary because my mom had just passed away from brain cancer; we were nervous there would be something there. When the MRI came back clear we took a big sigh of relief. But there’s still no explanation for why he has them.

 

I can’t imagine not having access to the people and equipment Ethan needs right here in our own city at The Moncton Hospital. I don’t think I would have been as prepared to go home with Ethan as I was – and it’s all because of them.” – Ashley

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Right now, you can ensure everyone in our community receives the best care possible by giving to the Friends of The Moncton Hospital Foundation. 

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