worried about student

[kidzcare]

I had a 6th grader come in today that I have never seen before. His complaint was that he was having a hard time making sentences and that his R hand had gone a little numb earlier. He had tears in his eyes and repeated a few things.

I don't know this student and you guys all know that we get all kinds of weird complaints. The tears made me think something was going on (such as he forgot his homework and was worried about being in trouble). So I had him call his mom and then I got on the phone with her and she said he wasn't making much sense and she stressed that he is usually really well spoken and takes honors classes. So now I was starting to get the idea that he was really not acting himself. I told the mom to come get him.

After that, I called the teacher that he had come from and he told me that the student had been having a hard time articulating what he wanted. Not really aphasic, but more like trouble word finding. He told me that because he is such a trustworthy student, he told him "Would I say yes to whatever it is you're asking for?" and the student said yes so he said "Just go ahead then" and I'm so glad he came to my office!

His neuro checks and VS were all WNL and he wasn't showing any confusion. When he said he was feeling the numbness again to his R hand, I checked grip strength again and it was even. I asked him to tell me about his morning to see if he had trouble remembering details or trouble saying any of the words. He did ok. But, again, today was the first day I met him. When I described what had happened to another of his teachers and my principal they were both shocked and said that it is way out of character for him.

I am going to call the mom and see how the dr appt went (they were heading straight there from the school). Crossing my fingers that he is OK!

[crazynursebsn]

Keep us updated.. Could've been a pediatric CVA?? Poor guy.

[anewsns]

Yea definitely something neurological going on there... Probably the tears were from being scared or maybe even part of the neuro problem itself :( I'll say a prayer for him.

[kidzcare]

Keep us updated.. Could've been a pediatric CVA?? Poor guy.

God, I hope not! I feel bad that I was a bit dismissive of him when he first came in, not knowing him.

Yea definitely something neurological going on there... Probably the tears were from being scared or maybe even part of the neuro problem itself :( I'll say a prayer for him.

He did stop while he was telling me about his morning and say "my eyes are watering again" so I don't know that he was really "crying"

I tried to call the mom to get an update, but no answer and the phone wouldn't take a VM. I will call in the morning.

[RNNPICU, BSN, RN]

Sounds like a CVA or a potential AVM, maybe even DKA. He definitely needs check out. Hopefully it is just stress. You did the right thing calling mom and checking to see if these were normal behaviors for him

[kidzcare]

The student is not in school today... I will call the mom around 9am... :worried:

[SnowyJ, RN]

Complex migraine??

Check this out:

Reporter's on-air gibberish was due to migraine - today > entertainment - today > entertainment > tv - TODAY.com

[SnowyJ, RN]

Symptoms can include issues with speech and numbness on one side.

And you don't have to even have pain, though sometimes you do.

[100kids, BSN, RN]

Hope you hear soon and he is ok. I think of all of these kids as mine so I worry about them whenever anything's not right.

[kidzcare]

Before I could call, the mom called me.

The student is having an array of testing and so far everything is negative. He was kept overnight for observation and is having more testing today. He is back to himself now. I hope they get an answer! How scary!

I am going to read up on that migraine stuff! I wish I'd seen that before I talked to his mom!

[OldDude]

It's hard to convince yourself that a kid may be having a stroke but, under these circumstances, you just have to throw that into the possibilities; all praying it's not... you certainly did the right thing. Please keep us informed.

[SnowyJ, RN]

kidzcare, it's really interesting and can mimic a stroke! The watery eyes can be a sx. of migraine as well.

I get ocular migraines and they can be scary. (No pain usually.) There are many sub types to what we think of as "traditional" migraine. They can also just pop up out of nowhere.