A 29-year-old mother filmed her baby having seizures as proof for doctors who dismissed his eye rolls and body jerks as simply tiredness.
Benji was only four months old when his family were told that his seizures were only caused by fatigue.
That’s when his mother, Lisa Martin, filmed Benji and the video showed symptoms, prompting doctors to run a series of tests. It was then confirmed that the young boy had infantile spasms, a form of epilepsy. If left untreated, the condition can result in permanent brain damage.
“Benji was perfectly healthy until he reached four and a half months old. We were visiting family and we noticed him doing an eye lift movement that seemed to disturb him.
“So the next morning I booked him in to see a GP and whilst there he did a few repetitive eye movements – the GP said he was probably suffering with fatigue and that it would stop.
“Yet the movements continued throughout the day and when my husband, James, returned from work that evening we decided to head to our local children’s A&E department armed with a video to share our concerns.”
She added: “Things could have been so different and so much worse had we had listened to that first doctor and put it down to fatigue.
“The delays in diagnosis tend to lead to poorer outcomes as the longer the brain is chaotic the more damage is done.”
During the night he was kept in hospital, his eye rolls and jolts became more aggressive, with medics counting around 80 of them have happened in just one night.
“Things became a blur – Benji was inundated with tests. He was sedated and had an MRI scan, lumbar puncture, bloods taken and started a steroid medication called Prednisolone,” Mrs. Martin expressed.
“The medication was so tough on our poor boy, he screamed daily for 24 hours a day and nothing would settle him.
“After a month of this, he had lost many skills he had learned before onset of the spasms, he never smiled and was no longer a happy baby.”
She added: “His face had ballooned from his previous round of steroids and it was like having our baby replaced with someone else.
“Benji started a new round of steroids meaning he had all the effects again, screaming and crying for all hours of the day.
“Yet the combination worked and it was decided Benji would stay on an epilepsy maintenance medication called sodium valproate and Epillim.”
Benji’s seizures are finally under control after years of tinkering with his medication even though it has already caused delays in his learning.
“He’s worked so hard to be where he is aged three and we’re lucky as he can now attend a local playschool where he seems happy and fits in well,” Mrs. Martin said.
What are your thoughts on this? Let us know in the comments section and SHARE this post with your family and friends!
Replaced!