Jett Travolta's death due to untreated Kawasaki's disease/seizure disorder?

[The Pogue]

For years, there was speculation that Jett had autism. John Travolta vehemently denied that,[ religous comment] Travolta claimed his son had Kawasaki's disease, which is easily treatable.

Regardless of Jett's medical status,his death is a tragedy. If it was preventable, it was criminal.

[LIZARD]

I was stunned to read about this yesterday. :( How horribly sad. :( The article I read said he wasn't found for several hours and had apparently hit his head on the bathtub. :( As a mother, I would be haunted forever over that. :(


RIP, Jett...:(

LIZARD :(

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

This is so sad! I feel so terrible for everyone, and in a weird way I think mostly for his little sister, only 8...

I'm curious to hear the results of the autopsy...although I know it won't answer some of the things being said now...clearly something doesn't add up here with his 'condition' though...

From the video snippets they've been showing of their recent visit to Paris, it did appear he had a sorta 'look' about him, but to me it didn't seem to be autism...

And the news said that seizure disorders are not common with Kawasaki's, that it can occur, but is likely a secondary & unrelated condition...

And of course we'll likely never know if a seizure did cause his injury...

I guess in the end it really doesn't matter too much...he appeared to be a sweet & loving boy...such a sad & tragic event...my heart goes out to the entire family!

[milivica]

For years, there was speculation that Jett had autism. John Travolta vehemently denied that,[ religous comment ] Travolta claimed his son had Kawasaki's disease, which is easily treatable.

Regardless of Jett's medical status,his death is a tragedy. If it was preventable, it was criminal.

With all the money that couple have, and all the help and resources money can buy, if it was preventable it's beyond criminal. I'm with Liz, as a mother I would be haunted forever, even after I was dead someday. And not just because of his death, but because of the lack of quality of life while alive, know what I mean? YET...I know nothing about this story, I'll look it up on the net after posting, but I have to say MOST horrifying to me, is what we can talk ourselves into believing cause of our love for our kids. Know what I mean? And these parents, will not be able to get a second chance, their beliefs ended the life of their child. Looking back at some of the ideas I once had about autism treatment, I thank God no school or therapist or quack that I once believed in, ended my son's life. I mean, it could have happened, and I would have been forever haunted.

Yes, what we can talk ourselves into in order to cope, it scares me lots and I've thought about it lots...I even know a family with one severe autistic and mild autistic child who refuse to even SAY the word autism. I love to learn about and respect others so I can learn from them, but that one stumps me...I'm guessing if you don't say it, then you don't have to acknowledge it so don't have to do anything so pretend all is well. Is that it? They just accept it - yet - when the nt child became dx'd with some type of cancer they pursued treatment vigorously. Which is fine! But why not for autism?

Does anyone feel like this...I feel there's a 'real me' under the beliefs society has taught me, desperation has taught me, and I'd like to uncover the layers that have kept the 'real me' suppressed. I'm slowly uncovering the layers, somehow age seems to help. Dunno if the Travolta's felt that way, but can't imagine a more ultimate feeling of failure and grief than losing your child when it was preventable (having seen my stepmom have that happen to my 10 year old brother when I was 8). Likewise, can't say that I understand families that lose their child due to 'religious' beliefs like no blood transfusion or antibiotics or stuff like that. I can't quote the Bible, but would think there must be versus in it about moving Heaven and earth for your child. I'm sure I blur my religious upbringing, societal values, with 'right and wrong', but can't think of any taboo or religious belief I wouldn't stop on for my kids. Belief is not reality anyhow, just reality for the believer, ya know?

Off to read the article. What a terrible tragedy.

[Pamster]

OMG, this is the first I have heard of him possibly having autism. Dear God...They will never get over this....

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

I heard on the news last night that he had severe grand mal seizures and that he had a nanny.

The travolta's are po'd at the insinuation that he went into the bathroom Thursday night and was forgotten about until Friday morning...

They say the accident happened Friday morning.

They just aren't sure if he slipped and banged his head, then had a seizure or if he had a seizure then banged his head...but sounds like they are sure he had one.

And yes he was on anticonvulsants, but that they had increased the events and he did better off them.

I think no matter what being a parent brings feelings of guilt at every decision...my heart goes out to them!

[Isabelle]

for what i read he had rashes when very young, which is symptom of kawasaki, but also if seizures are refractory to anticonvulsants, it could be a adrenal gland problem...
the autopsy says "death due to seizure", he has been on valproic acid for very long time, years on VPA and it was stopped because was damaging his liver, that's a red flag for liver structural problems, like my son has....
i don't know how fast or slow the doctor reduce the valproic acid, with my son i did it so slowly it took me years and he only had seizures from sudden or to fast withdrawal of drugs and i did it after a 24 hrs ambulatory eeg proving that he was ok, no seizures activity.....i was afraid to reduce too fast because he has been 11 years on it, i was afraid of "status epilepticus" and of "sudden inexplicable death due to epileptic seizures" .....that can happen months after stopping an anticonvulsant.....
http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1187111-overview

he was under the supervision of 2 nannies !!!....and i wonder why they didn't check to see where he was, if he was in bed, they didn't check at 2 o'clock to see he was sleeping well, they didn't check at 9 am to see if he was awake, something is not right....
i learned not to trust strangers after my son was 14 years in a group home......and i am still praying that nothing of that sort happen to him

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

Isabelle, I wouldn't assume that he wasn't being checked...I think it's more likely that we are without all the details.

If there was some neglect on anyone's part, I'm sure we'd being hearing about that though... You know the media, they like to create drama where there isn't any...

From what I've heard/read, it seems like the Travolta's were taking care of it to the best of their ability.

Although, I am sure that they will find a way to feel guilty about not doing enough.

[Zonulin]

We watched Larry King last night, and they showed photos of the Travolta family in happier days. My husband said, "Their son looks like a special needs child - he has that 'look'." He didn't have that "edgy" look that a 16-year-old boy usually has - hard to explain. Then they showed an old interview with John Travolta, who said that he used to be a stickler for clean carpets, and one day after they got their carpets cleaned when their son was around two years old, they noticed terrible changes in their son. They took him to a doctor within 48 hours (Scientology is not Christian Scientist!), where the doctor recognized it and told them it was Kawasaki Syndrome. He said the doctor treated him, but it was too late, and the child's immune system "overreacted." As we all know now, children do not have developed immune systems until they are at least 3 years old; exposure to pesticides and chemicals can be devastating. Mr. Travolta was blaming himself for his son's medical condition. But I just looked up the disease he named, and it sounds very treatable, so this is very confusing: http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/children/parents/special/common/440.html Here is the interview with Larry King - John Travolta is shown about halfway thru (use that spacebar to go right to it): http:/****eo.aol.com/partner/cnn/larry-king-travolta-mourns/bestoftv:2009:01:06:lkl:travolta:son/?icid=VIDURVNWS05
Our children are the canaries in the coal mine.

[frogmama]

I was struck when looking at the pictures by how much Jett looks like my son (not just that they are both cute either!) I'll have to post a pic of my Matt for comparison.

I've always assumed that Jett had some type of autism, just by descriptions of his behavior and the few pictures that I've seen before now. I also believe he was loved and cared for 100%, just looking at pictures of him and hid Dad, you can see the love there. He was treated for the medical issues that he had, even if they may have been in denial about his autism, but people have done far worse to their children in the name of religon. John's brother Joey is actually an autism activist - "Joey Travolta, the star’s film-maker younger brother and an autism activist, reportedly clashed with his brother about what was wrong with Jett. Joey Travolta worked on a documentary called Normal People Scare Me and helped to found Actors with Autism." from http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article5454720.ece . Maybe some family history there?

In any case, he was a much loved child and my sympathies are with his parents who will now have EVERY FREAKING MINUTE of their grief and pain analyzed and disected by the media around the world. May Jett's thetan come back to a family who loves him as much as this one did. :D

religous comment removed

[snapdragon928]

I could tell by the pictures that Jett had autism. It's a shame he died from a seizure disorder. It's harsh to blame the family when all the details aren't known. I was surprised too that they did not decide to put him on another seizure med but my husband reminded me that the nuerologists were consulted. They did try to treat him but the depakote was harming him. We had to take my son off depakote too, he was on it for behavioral issues. He started having seizures for the first time after taking him off the depakote,pretty bad grand mal ones. He is on a new med now and is seizure free. We are going through some scrutiny over a medical decision by two doctors with our teachers for our son right now. They disagree with us and are pretty adament that there is something wrong when two doctors have checked him out and can't find a thing. I can't imagine what the Travolta's are going through with everyone second guessing them.

[Kristen (ColeysMom)]

Of course I don't know squawt about these details either, but my guess is that with the money that the Travolta's have, that they had access to the best of the best...and I'm sure even the worst of the worst neurologist are well aware that it takes trial and error to find the 'right' AED and the right dose, and that it's a VERY careful transition between them...

Just because the details of each and every step haven't been painfully written out for the world to scutinize does not mean it didn't happen, or that it happened the way you fear...

They are parents just like us, what makes you think they didn't turn over every available rock trying to help their son?

Their religious beliefs are kinda irrelavent here...if they put him on one, I'm sure he went through many. It's common knowledge that they become ineffective as the brain learns to work around a chemical, it's only a matter of time before a switch is necessary...I'm sure they did not give up after the first, and if they attempted to, I'm sure any Dr worth their weight in salt would put them straight...

They are parents like us, whatever his 'other' issues are, I'm sure that they did what was best for him...including balancing competing issues...

I don't think it's fair either to diagnose the kid through a picture...I agree there is a 'look' there...but that could be almost anything...I personally didn't get the sense from the short videos that it was autism...something about his interest around him or something told me 'no'...but even the so called 'experts' need more than that to make a Dx... now if the clip showed him head down, obsessing on something, then I maight say, ok, but still how could anyone be sure...it's a short clip? or a picture?...I think it's a bit harsh to judge them based on a pictures... and a whole slew of assumptions.

One thing I think is undeniable, they loved him deeply...and he did in return...how could any wrong come from that?