John Tavolta's son Jett dies at age 16

[TopGunner]

Larry King Live is covering this tonight.

 

[JBean]

I just read on FoxNews website that Travolta attorneys are saying that Jett was having gran mal seizes at least once a week...that seems very serious, and not taking any medications at all. Seems it wouldn't even be safe for him to fly?

TMZ reports on our morning news every day. This morning they said he absolutely 100% was medicated for seizures.
They went out of their way to squash the rumor that he was not medicated.

 

[lymom3]

The picture of him walking with his mom on his tiptoes made me think autism. No one knows what causes either one of these diseases. Maybe he did have Kawasaki Syndrome and that precipitated the autism. We will probably never know and truth be told it's probably none of my business either but I am still curious.

While I do feel very sorry for the family and how devistated they must be I also know that there are several meds for seizures. Most meds have some kind of side effects. If one didn't work they should have kept trying with other medications. If they were willing to go against scientology teachings and give him medication why not keep trying until you get one that works? While I don't think they are responsible for his death I still think that if indeed this was a seizure it could have been prevented.

Easy for me to say as he was not my child. I hope that whatever higher power has Jett now that he is happy and watching over his family.

 

[JBean]

While i do believe Jett was medicated, in some cases it is reasonable to not medicate under doctor supervision.
I did not medicate my son for many years, because the certain damage done by the meds outweighed the uncertain damage that may or may not be caused by the seizures or aftermath.
It is virtually impossible for any of us to know if the treatment they chose for their son was right or wrong or the best course of action for his circumstances.
I had to go to 3 pediatric neurologists to find one that supported my desire to keep him off of the heavy medications that were prescribed for him. But this doctor completely understood that in his case it was entirely reasonable.
I am glad I did it because I saved him 15 years of irreparable damage to his body. he is now medicated with a drug that was not available 19 years ago when he was first diagnosed.It does not damage his body; so we were able to put him on a drug that we felt good about. But not all anti-convulsants work on all people so everyone does not have the same options.

 

[Trino]

While I don't think they are responsible for his death I still think that if indeed this was a seizure it could have been prevented. Easy for me to say as he was not my child. I hope that whatever higher power has Jett now that he is happy and watching over his family.

Years ago I had a 17 yr old neighbor who suffered a seizure in the bathtub and drowned. He was not autistic. This boy did not have or need a 24/7 nanny. It was just one of those tragic things.

 

[Penelope]

IMO, I believe that someone was literally "asleep at the wheel." By this I mean that both nannies were asleep when it happened and might have even slept through any alarms that may have gone off. The other alternative would be that, as per the original press reports, Jett went into that bathroom in the evening and no one ever checked on him until 10 or 11 am in the morning. That does seem a bit unlikely, even if he did sleep long hours. If Jett's condition was as serious as "a grand mal seizure every 4 days" and he was not on medication at the time, there could be some negligence -- especially by one or both of the nannies.

 

[Penelope]

TMZ reports that a funeral home source states that the death certificate list seizure as COD.

http://www.tmz.com/

Could be some sort of sudden death by seizure -- see link

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1187111-overview

 

[JBean]

TMZ reports that a funeral home source states that the death certificate list seizure as COD.

http://www.tmz.com/

Could be some sort of sudden death by seizure -- see link

http://emedicine.medscape.com/article/1187111-overview

SUDEP is the fear of every parent of an epileptic child.

 

[KR2tonenow]

Being reported on Jane Velez Mitchell's show now, Monday 4/5pm central.

Discrepancy timeline controversy. Jett and Jeff boating earlier. Jett went to sleep and entered in bathroom at 10:30pm. 12 hour window, and child was left alone. If he was a special needs child, didn't the nanny pay enough attention?

2 nannys watching him, and he hit his head and laid on the floor for over 10 hours.

Another controversy, what did Jett suffer from? Kawasaki syndrome. External cause for it or is a person born with it? It is an immune process. Involve arteries around the heart. Kawasaki syndrome does not cause seizures. Jett maybe autistic.

 

[KR2tonenow]

The picture of him walking with his mom on his tiptoes made me think autism. No one knows what causes either one of these diseases. Maybe he did have Kawasaki Syndrome and that precipitated the autism. We will probably never know and truth be told it's probably none of my business either but I am still curious.

While I do feel very sorry for the family and how devistated they must be I also know that there are several meds for seizures. Most meds have some kind of side effects. If one didn't work they should have kept trying with other medications. If they were willing to go against scientology teachings and give him medication why not keep trying until you get one that works? While I don't think they are responsible for his death I still think that if indeed this was a seizure it could have been prevented.

Easy for me to say as he was not my child. I hope that whatever higher power has Jett now that he is happy and watching over his family.

Bolded by me and thank you for bringing this up. It would be interesting to see how the Travolta's view Autism. My son is ASD and we have many friends with Autism. Seizures are known with some diagnosed with it. I wonder if this child was given the proper medication?

 

[JBean]

The picture of him walking with his mom on his tiptoes made me think autism. No one knows what causes either one of these diseases. Maybe he did have Kawasaki Syndrome and that precipitated the autism. We will probably never know and truth be told it's probably none of my business either but I am still curious.

While I do feel very sorry for the family and how devistated they must be I also know that there are several meds for seizures. Most meds have some kind of side effects. If one didn't work they should have kept trying with other medications. If they were willing to go against scientology teachings and give him medication why not keep trying until you get one that works? While I don't think they are responsible for his death I still think that if indeed this was a seizure it could have been prevented.

Easy for me to say as he was not my child. I hope that whatever higher power has Jett now that he is happy and watching over his family.

I think a lot of people that are not familiar with seizure disorders have this same mistaken notion, that they can be 100% controlled in all cases. Unfortunately, not all meds work on all those with seizure disorders and the only hope they have is that they can at least keep them to a minimum.
My son is medicated and has not had a seizure in 2 years. Yet, he had one while driving on Jan 1. All we know now is that he may have to increase his dose or take 2 drugs.
I know a person on this board that is medicated, yet she still has seizures and that is not at all uncommon. Go to some of the epilepsy forums to find out what these parents go through trying to keep their childrens seizures from occurring.

 

[Penelope]

What troubles me most is the timeline discrepency and the fact that the poor young man may have lay on the bathroom floor, unconscious and undetected for many hours, while the two "nannies" slept like babies. If this were my son, I would be grief stricken and very, very angry at those who were paid to watch over him.

 

[Seamaid]

Bolded by me and thank you for bringing this up. It would be interesting to see how the Travolta's view Autism. My son is ASD and we have many friends with Autism. Seizures are known with some diagnosed with it. I wonder if this child was given the proper medication?

I'm pretty sure that the Travoltas did not "view" Autism at all. Scientology won't let them recognize or treat it. I think the general consensus is that Jett was not allowed any medication for any reason and the stories of him having tried anti-seizure meds (that he was taken off of for what ever reason) is just a cover up in case negligence charges are brought up.

John Travolta is a big money maker for Hollywood studios and Scientology, everything possible is being done so that he and his wife don't look negligent in this. You guys don't even want to know what's being said about the caregiver that found Jett......the gossip sites are going nuts with this.

 

[JBean]

Well, if it was SUDEP there was nothing to be done. It's like a child dying of SIDS. There is nothing preventative to do. but, because the ME listed the cause as seizure, I THINK that rules out SUDEP, because my understanding is that there is no seizure with SUDEP.

 

[KR2tonenow]

I'm pretty sure that the Travoltas did not "view" Autism at all. Scientology won't let them recognize or treat it. I think the general consensus is that Jett was not allowed any medication for any reason and the stories of him having tried anti-seizure meds (that he was taken off of for what ever reason) is just a cover up in case negligence charges are brought up.

John Travolta is a big money maker for Hollywood studios and Scientology, everything possible is being done so that he and his wife don't look negligent in this. You guys don't even want to know what's being said about the caregiver that found Jett......the gossip sites are going nuts with this.

Good point! I imagine this won't go away for awhile for the Travolta's but that being said viewing Autism is not (and I am sure you know that) a crime. Gossip mag's are going nuts over this because it makes no sense to have a child like this and not have the best possible care, and that would define 24 hr care, especially when he has the best doctors and still the child dies. Really sad actually.

 

[scandi]

I'm pretty sure that the Travoltas did not "view" Autism at all. Scientology won't let them recognize or treat it. I think the general consensus is that Jett was not allowed any medication for any reason and the stories of him having tried anti-seizure meds (that he was taken off of for what ever reason) is just a cover up in case negligence charges are brought up.

John Travolta is a big money maker for Hollywood studios and Scientology, everything possible is being done so that he and his wife don't look negligent in this. You guys don't even want to know what's being said about the caregiver that found Jett......the gossip sites are going nuts with this.

Hi Seamaid and Everyone, This morning on FOX News they had a FOX Medical consultant on who gave the rundown about Jett. The last thing he said was that he was certain Jett did not have autism.

It made me really wonder, him making a strong statement like that, if that is what the powers that be handling this for the Travolta's want out there in the news. It could be much as you say Seamaid. I immediately wondered if this Dr knew about the way Jett walked and moved his hands. Also, that Jett was non-verbal.

Do you know if these symptoms would be present in someone who had epilepsy and not autism? xox

 

[KR2tonenow]

This is what I saw on Seizure disorders:

Seizure Disorders: Neurologic Disorders: Merck Manual Professional

 

[scandi]

Well, if it was SUDEP there was nothing to be done. It's like a child dying of SIDS. There is nothing preventative to do. but, because the ME listed the cause as seizure, I THINK that rules out SUDEP, because my understanding is that there is no seizure with SUDEP.

Hi Bean, Thanks to you and all the posters here who have knowledge of these problems. It really helps us understand the situation better ;}

In that link by Penelope on the previous page it mentions if death occurs as a result of a seizure it is not SUDEP. The next line says:

"Notably, evidence of a recent seizure does not exclude the diagnosis of SUDEP as long as death did not occur during the seizure."

It is a bit confusing, and since Jett had so many seizures every week, it well could be his death was only due to the seizure. We just don't know if his death happened during the seizure or not. I don't even know if that makes any difference. xox

 

[Penelope]

Scandi--

Believe it or not, there are a number of Scientologists that work for major news stations, including FOX, and they are all trying to put the quash on any discussion about the boy's condition. How can this guy be "certain" that Jett did not have autism unless he examined the boy himself. Over the past day or so, I have read comments by physicians on TMZ and other websites who are all very careful to state that they cannot be certain, but Jett certainly has many of the physical characteristics and movements of someone with severe autism. But, they all stopped short at diagnosing him.

The other theory that has been discussed is that he had some seizure disorder that was not ever treated with medication. Over the years, his brain became more and more damaged and his condition worsened.

I believe he had autism and this is the common belief among the Hollywood elite, especially those who have been touched by autism. But, there was nothing anyone could do because his parents would not acknowlege it. I do not believe he was ever put on medication and was just "managed" quietly by the family and their hired help.

 

[shannon2008]

I am so angry at shows like Entertainment Tonight. They had video of the EMT who rode to the hospital with the Travolta's giving an interview! He told them all about the scene and how they tried to revive him.

While I understand that his father is a celebrity, Jett was not. He is 16 years old and a minor and they should just tell the story and what info they are given by the Travolta family and let him rest in peace.

That man should be fired for violating patient's privacy, and the hospital should be fined. The Travolta's once they are past this immediate time of grief should sue them for it.

It's just terrible that the media has turned this into a media frenzy.