Mommy + Me Orlando Trip! Day 5

We had an 8:55am flight but were told to allow 3 hours to get through the check-in process at MCO. We had a 5:45am Uber that got us to the airport right around 6am. The line for the self-check-in kiosk for Southwest was wrapped around the lobby and partially outside. I had already checked our bags in online and decided to use the airport porters. The tip to them was worth the time is saved. TSA Pre-check also saved us a load of time. We took the train to our terminal and then headed for the usual coffee and cake pop breakfast. All in all, we were able to get to a Starbucks for coffee and cake pops in about 35 minutes. The terminal was loaded as it was December 23 (the biggest travel day - or so they said - of the year). We made our way to our gate and waited to board.

What started off as a normal easy-going morning took a turn and Cam ended up having a medical incident that required him to be transported to Johns Hopkins Children's Center immediately after landing in Baltimore.

First and foremost, he is back to normal, and he was cleared by both Johns Hopkins and his local doctor.

About 30 mins into our flight, he started complaining about severe back pain and then stomach pain. I took him to the front lavatory to see if he needed to use the bathroom and after being there for a few minutes he was in agony and started saying his chest hurt. The pain he was exhibiting I have only seen once from him and that was immediately after his open-heart surgery. He is a great traveler, we have flown a lot since his surgery and these actions were so out of his normal character, something was definitely wrong.

I asked the flight attendants (who we had become friendly with) to page for any medical personnel that may be traveling on our full flight. I am grateful that there was an EMT, ER Nurse and Cardiovascular doctor on board. They all sat with us on the floor of the airplane for the hour it took us to get to BWI.

Cam's symptoms varied and at one point he became extremely lightheaded and seemed to get dizzy. He was given oxygen and the doctor who helped us, monitored his blood pressure and kept listening to his heart throughout the flight. They had the flights AED paddle out and on standby in case they needed to be utilized.

The flight attendants were in constant contact with the pilots, who after hearing about what was happening contemplated diverting the plane to Richmond but decided to continue on to Baltimore as it would have ultimately been the same travel time. Air Traffic Control held all air traffic so we could immediately land and be met by medical. After getting his stabilized and evaluated we were taken by ambulance to Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

His symptoms had subsided by the time we arrived at the hospital, but they did a FULL work up and ran lots of tests. They compared his heart readings to those that we had this past summer at Children's National from his yearly check up and everything looked to be back to normal.

Although we were not able to find a definitive answer as to what caused the episode, I am so grateful for everyone who helped my boy and I.

• Thank you to Southwest Airlines and the entire crew of SWA1156. I know one of the pilots was Mr. Tony Clinton and one of the attendants was Ms. Emily Hunt. But you were ALL amazing and wonderful.

• Thank you to the doctor, EMT and Nurse who were traveling and helped us. I did not get your names but I am so thankful for your kindness and help.

• Thank you to Mr. Bryan, who was sitting in the row with us and helped get my bags off the plane when we were met with medical staff.

• Thank you to Mr. Dennis Compton who was the Southwest Rep on the ground person at BWI who helped me arrange getting our luggage off and stored and who checked in on us throughout the afternoon.

• Thank you to the BWI EMS staff - especially Robinson and Gray who transported us to Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

• Thank you to my mom, Bonnie, and partner, Kurt, for driving to meet us at the hospital and help bring us home.

• Thank you to my best friend, Charissa and her husband, Kevin who went to find my mom and Kurt when I could not reach them (to their defense I only gave them 4 minutes to respond).

• And thank you for each and every one of you who check in on us.

We are blessed more than ever this Christmas.