Anybody heard this about John Travolta's kid dying?

[cwydro]

Hit his head on the bathtub in the Bahamas.

Huh? He was 16.

[Shell Beau]

1. I know! So sad. Apparently he had seizures and this time when it happened, he hit the tub.

16 is so young. Bless his heart.

[cwydro]

4. What is it with the Bahamas?

Isn't that where Anna Nicole's son died?

Weird.

[FloridaJudy]

20. I believe Mark Twain lost a child in the same way

She had a seizure and drowned in the bath.

Neither talent nor money can protect us against tragedy. My heart goes out to his family.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

2. Here's the thread, my dear cwydro...

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=102x3669323

[cwydro]

6. Thank you Peg.

I did check for duplicate threads like a good DUer.

But I did not check LBN.

How are you anyway? Happy New Year!

I have been scarce here lately. The Rick Warren thing just nauseated me no end...and not in the way you might think.

[CaliforniaPeggy]

9. You're welcome!

No worries...I just wanted you to see the official link that is in that thread...

I'm good, thanks!

Did you like the card?

I know you've been scarce...and I can hardly blame you...The Rick Warren thing has been really awful.

:hug:

[cwydro]

11. Peg, I did not get a card.... but we moved so there you are!

Check your PM.

No fire this time, but we found a cool place on the water where we can keep the boat and a huge yard.

The best thing is the critters are happy with the ginormous area.

I have been very disappointed with DU re Warren. What can I say?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

3. Bathtub accidents are common...

I know a kid who was goofing around in his bathroom, slipped, and did serious damage to his spleen. He almost died.

[cwydro]

7. I slipped once in a bathtub a few years ago.

Sounds funny, but it wasn't. I caught myself, but I can see how bad it might have been.

Really frightened me and I am very cautious ever since.

[GoddessOfGuinness]

12. I'm glad you caught yourself!

That can be scary!

[Mike 03]

5. Yes, it's very sad. And the invasion of the family's privacy prior to this tragedy was even worse

Not to mention the misinformation about the boy's condition. It's bad all around.

[cwydro]

8. What was the misinformation?

I must have missed that.

I read he had a history of seizures. Is that not correct?

[Shell Beau]

10. His real condition is unknown to us, the public. Some say autism, and I believe

the family says Kawasaki syndrome. It is called into question because of their Scientology faith. But really, it is none of anyone's business. If the family wants it private, then their wishes should be respected. The Scientology thing is the big deal. Whether he was medicated if it was a physcological disorder.

[Mike 03]

14. I agree 100% that if a family wants the health issues to remain private, they should.

But they came out with this, and it should be viewed as a good thing, IMO. KS needs some attention paid to it. Maybe this will generate some donations and research money.

[cwydro]

16. I have never heard of Kawasaki syndrome.

Can you enlighten me?

[Shell Beau]

17. Don't know much about it myself.

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/kawasaki.html
This gives some info!

[cwydro]

18. Thanks for the link.

But it does not seem that would affect a 16 year old, based on what I read in that link.

[CreekDog]

22. i took a lot of flack in the main thread for trying to say what you said

very frustrating. :banghead:

but i'm glad not everybody has lost their mind.

[Mike 03]

13. Oh, the media in Los Angeles has been reporting for years that he was autistic.

For some reason they refused to believe Travolta when he said the boy had Kawasaki disease. I can't imagine why they would think he would lie about something like that.

[bmbmd]

15. Autism and Kawasaki's

are not mutually exclusive. In addition, "autism" carries neuro-psychiatric connotations. I can certainly see why Mr. Travolta would prefer to think something else.

[SarahB]

19. If he did have Kawasaki as a smaller child and it wasn't treated medically

(yes, sometimes medications are needed), it can cause lasting cardiac damage. I don't what happened or if it ultimately had anything to do with their religious beliefs. If it did, that would be a shame.

It's a tragedy when any child dies. :(

[mnhtnbb]

23. Apparently he was diagnosed with Kawasaki at Childrens Hospital of Los Angeles

according to one article I read.

I worked there from the mid 70's to mid 80's. At that time, it was one of the top Children's Hospitals
in the country, along with Boston and Philadelphia Children's. I saw a study recently that indicated
some of their services still rank right near the top.

Of course, diagnosis doesn't mean the parents will choose to follow the treatment. The article
I read quoted Kelly Preston as saying that she was told by the physicians that they did not know
what caused Kawasaki. She said, in the article, that there were other kids in the hospital with Kawasaki, and that she interviewed all the parents. Every one of them admitted to having carpets cleaned
within the last couple of weeks (she said).

Of course, it's not the carpet cleaning chemicals that cause the problem according to MD's, it's the pathogens and bacteria released from the dirty carpets during the cleaning process that may cause
the disease.

I would understand that idea the same way some people think going out in the cold will subject you
to catching a cold: it's not the cold, it's usually a virus you pick up from other people through
contact or airborne from being inside with sick people and breathing the same air.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/eonline/20090103/en_celeb_eo/77270

"Jett's whole immune system shut down, and he got really sick with high fevers, 104 and 105," she says. "I kept taking him into the doctor and they didn't know what was wrong with him. He developed a rash on his body, swollen lymph glands – it was horrible."

Preston kept taking Jett in to the doctor's office every couple of days, but he was not getting better. Finally, the doctor did some research and came up with a preliminary diagnosis: Kawasaki's syndrome. According to the Miller-Keane Medical Dictionary, Kawasaki's is "an illness of unknown etiology affecting primarily children, and characterized by high fever, macroerythematous rash, cervical lymph node swelling, and pain."

Preston took Jett to Children's Hospital in Los Angeles, where the diagnosis was confirmed. "And lo and behold, they don't know how you acquire it, and lo and behold, there were tons of kids in the ICU with Kawasaki's," Preston says. "I'd never even heard of it. And they give you a questionnaire with about 50 questions on it. I went and talked to everybody – every single parent – and everyone had cleaned their carpets in the last couple of weeks. That was one of the questions. So I don't know what the correlation is ... I'm just saying we need to know more."


http://www.celebrityparents.com/movie/kelly-preston-5217/

[GreenPartyVoter]

21. I feel so badly for the family :^(