When a Child Becomes Ill, Don't Give Up Hope

When you meet Michelle, Joel, Henry, Matthew and Ava Geach, you never would guess what this family has been through. 

Henry is a second grader, Matthew is in kindergarten, and Ava is barely 2 years old. They look picture perfect.

On Christmas Day 2005, Matthew celebrated his first birthday. Nobody in the Geach household could have predicted that life was about to change dramatically two days later.

Joel had just gotten home from work. Michelle, a stay-at-home mom, was exhausted and Joel encouraged her to lie down and rest for a bit while he took over Henry and Matthew’s evening bath. Not 10 minutes later, Michelle heard Joel screaming that Matthew was not breathing.

Right away, she thought Matthew had drowned. Only later did she learn that Matthew had collapsed as Joel was taking him out of the tub to dry him off.

Michelle dialed 911 and was put on hold. Her son was turning blue and was not breathing. The Geach family lives only a short distance from , so Michelle hung up the phone, got in the car, and drove Matthew to the Emergency Room. 

He was foaming at the mouth and blue, and she thought he was dead or dying. Henry and Joel were equally fearful.

Michelle sat in the waiting room for 30 minutes with no word about Matthew’s condition. Finally, doctors determined that Matthew had had a seizure and was still in the midst of it. Matthew was transferred to Children’s Hospital in Oakland, and Michelle rode there in the ambulance with her little boy.

Once in ICU isolation at Children’s Hospital, Matthew had to undergo a painful spinal tap so doctors could rule out spinal meningitis. Thankfully, this was not the diagnosis. Matthew stayed in the hospital for five days, without any more seizures.

A month later, a second seizure occurred while he was at the park with Joel. Matthew was in the swings when it started, and two hours later the seizure ended. Over the course of that year, he had more than 400 seizures, most lasting one to four hours. One seizure lasted 10½ hours.

Michelle’s new normal was sleeping in Matthew’s room each night to watch and wait for a seizure. 

Neurologists at Children’s Hospital didn’t have a name for Matthew’s condition and consulted neurologists as far away as Japan. 

While trying to determine what was happening to the boy, doctors tried many drugs. One made Matthew run into walls, another made him stop talking and another turned him into a zombie. 

The Geach family even tried a ketogenic diet for Matthew, under the supervision of a dietitian. This diet is very high in fat and everything that Matthew ate had to be measured on a scale. The diet made him so ill that he almost went into kidney failure and ended up in the hospital for three days. 

Clearly, the drugs and diet were not working.

When Matthew was 2, Joel, Michelle and Matthew underwent genetic testing at Children’s Hospital. The testing was frightening for Michelle and Joel, because Michelle was pregnant with their third child. The couple feared what tests would mean for the baby. 

Tests showed Matthew had SMEI: severe myoclonic epilepsy in infancy, or Dravet's syndrome. Michelle and Joel were glad to finally be able to put a name to Matthew’s illness until doctors told the Geaches that SMEI results in a short life expectancy and to expect Matthew to revert back to infancy; he would stop walking, talking and eating. 

Michelle thought, “Will this kid have a good life? Will he ever ride a bike? Will he ever swim?”

From the time he was 1 until he turned 3½, Matthew had seizure after seizure after seizure. After his 10½ hour seizure, Michelle took Matthew to her mom’s church in Sacramento. At this Russian Church, there were about 2,000 worshippers. Many of them wanted to be healed. Michelle, her mother and brother took Matthew to the front of the church, hoping that prayer would help him. 

Whether you are a believer or not, Matthew has not had a seizure since that day. September will mark the three-year anniversary of his last seizure. 

Doctors have no explanation for why this miracle child does not fit the mold of others with SMEI. In fact, Matt’s most recent EEG showed no residual effect of seizures. Doctors at Children’s Hospital say they have never seen anything like this.

As a preschooler with seizures, Matt was in the special day class at Montair. When it came time to think about kindergarten options, Michelle and Joel were unsure whether to send him to an SDC kindergarten or a regular kindergarten. 

They enrolled Matthew in the school district’s “Ready, Set, Go” kindergarten summer school. He kept up with the other children with little difficulty, so Michelle and Joel enrolled Matthew at his home school, Walt Disney Elementary, for regular kindergarten. 

Now, the only extra help he gets is speech and occupational therapy, which may both end soon.

It’s truly a miracle that Matt did not follow the typical path of children with this disease. Instead of reverting back to infancy, he has beaten the odds with every barrier that has been put in front of him.

Today, Matthew is a 6-year-old who plays Little League, rides a bike, plays soccer and takes swim lessons.

The Geaches never imagined this was possible. In fact, the quality of life for the entire family has improved.

They don’t have to worry about when the next seizure will happen. They simply live life.