Jameson's Illness

Jameson was excited to be going to Los Angeles! He would be traveling alone for the first time. I was terrified at the thought of him flying alone. Little did I know, it would be the least of my worries concerning this trip.

I hugged Jameson goodbye on Saturday, July 24th, 2010, and his father took him to the airport. He boarded his flight and wasn't the least bit scared. He called me when he arrived in Los Angeles. My brother, Trevor and his wife, Dana, showed him a fantastic time in California. They went swimming, to the beach, Universal Studios, two baseball games and Hurricane Harbor.

Jameson called me everyday, and my brother and sister-in-law sent pictures of his activities. He was having a good time, and I knew he was in good hands. He was due to fly home on July 31st, and I couldn't wait to see him again!

I called Jameson on the morning of July 30th, around 7:00am pacific time. He told me what a good time he'd had at the water park the day before. He was excited to be going to Malibu that day. He was sad his trip was drawing to a close, but happy that he would soon be home. I told me he missed me.

Less than two hours later, Trevor called me to tell me that Jameson was having severe abdominal pains. Thinking he was constipated, Trevor and Dana treated it as such. I got on the phone with Jameson, who by this time was hysterical. I tried to talk him through it, but there was no calming him down. That's when he told me...

"Mom! I can't move my legs!"

My brother, sister-in-law and I were all convinced that Jameson's symptoms were psychosomatic. He tends to be overdramatic, so we thought that - for whatever reason - Jameson was trying to pull something over on us. Why else would he be suffering from both a stomach ache and paralysis in the legs?

Dana got Jameson to take a nap, hoping he would awaken feeling fine again. Several hours later, she called to tell me that his symptoms hadn't improved and they were taking Jameson to the emergency room. I cried, afraid of what might be going on. He was capable of faking a stomach ache, but to fake not being able to move his legs was an act beyond him.

The next twelve hours were some of the scariest of my life. Kevin made arrangements to go to Jameson, planning to bring him home. I planned to stay here with the other boys, believing they would be home the following day. I vaguely remember speaking with a pediatric neurologist at 1:00am. I recall him spelling the terms that would soon become household words...

T-R-A-N-S-V-E-R-S-E  M-Y-E-L-I-T-I-S

After I hung up the phone with the doctor, I hesitantly typed those words into a Google search. I wish I hadn't. I scanned the first website that came up in the search. I saw terms like "permanent paralysis", "infection on spinal cord" and "potentially fatal"....

I hoped there was a mistake, but the symptoms were undeniable. They were Jameson's, to a "T"....