Seizure Update

Wow! It's been a LONG time since I've updated this blog. A lot has happened in between. On the 16th of September 2010 I had a seizure in the Hinckley building on campus. I was taken by ambulance to the Madison E.R. where I was admitted. I spent 5 days there trying different anti-seizure drugs. All of them did not work, and in fact made my seizures occur more often and last longer. I tried, Zonegran, Topomax, Depakote, Ativan, and Valium. Before being admitted I had tried Keppra which was a terrible experience. While on Keppra, I felt like a superhero, wanted to run laps around the school buildings and had a terrible buzz like I'd imagine it would be like if I drank coffee--which I don't. Then after 4 hours, I hit the ground. I was taken by ambulance to the ER. I was out for 7 hours. The ER said that I just didn't have enough of it in my system. I definitely know I had enough. 


So after Madison was at a loss for what to do, I took an ambulance ride down to The University of Utah hospital where I had an MRI, and was hooked up to a video EEG for 6 days. I was so doped up on the drugs from Madison hospital, I don't recall a lot of the earlier part of my stay at The University of Utah. 


The only thing they found out during my stay is that my brain waves slowed down dramatically while I was able to carry on a conversation, and this greatly perplexed them. I didn't show any seizure like brain waves on the EEG during any of my many seizures. I was sent home with a variety of medications in prescription format which I opted to not take. Since I had gotten off a lot of the medications I was finally feeling human and alive as far as thinking goes. I spent 1 week in Utah after I was released, and went back to BYU-Idaho to resume my classes.

     I asked for fruit, and they gave me these huge watermelon slices. It was hard to cut them to eat them.

                                                                 I had multiple I.V's.

                      I took an ambulance ride down to The University of Utah hospital Epilepsy ward.

I had 3 seizures in the ambulance on the way down to SLC. I had a standing order for Ativan to try and stop the seizures. Periodically, I also received injections of Zofran for nausea due to the Depakote. I can only recall parts of the events that occurred upon arrival to The University of Utah hospital. I can remember pulling into the ambulance bay at midnight. I was taken to my room. Then within a few minutes I went to MRI. In the MRI tube I had a seizure. Awaking to a sternum rub, my body was jello. I couldn't hold my head up. The workers put me in a wheelchair, tied me in securely with a bed sheet, and propped my head up against the I.V. pole attached to the side of the wheelchair. 

                                 There were a lot of instruments and medical equipment in my room.

 This cabinet helped everyone keep track of my care.

The EEG tech wanted me to sit up in a chair to attach the EEG leads to my head. My mom explained to her about the seizure during the MRI, and being tied to the wheelchair by a bedsheet. She still insisted that I sit in a chair, because that is how she normally did it. My mom said to her, "good luck!" As you can see she attached the leads while I was laying down. I can't recall all of it, so I'm guessing that I probably slept through most of her attaching of the leads. It was 4am when she finished.  

                                                         This was 4am. I felt like death.

The hospital covered the side railing in case I was violent during seizures--which I'm not! Shortly thereafter, the other side rail was equipped with a blue cushion that velcroed to the railing.

 This is the video EEG monitor that I was connected to for 6 days. At night the monitor was turned off, since the bright screen light was so bright it lit up the room. During the day, a bed sheet covered it, so that I wouldn't affect the results. The very first day that it was uncovered, I noticed that if I blinked my eyes, or opened my mouth, that I could affect the brain waves. It was kind of fun like playing with an Etch a Sketch. Someone must have caught onto my entertainment, because shortly thereafter it was covered with a sheet.

Re-gluing leads onto my scalp. They used a glue similar to model airplane cement. Sometimes they'd come lose, or the connection was not good enough and the particular lead would show an error on the monitor.

     I had a lot of seizures while I was admitted. Some of them caused paralysis. My torso was jelly, and I could not move my legs. My feet were numb. I could not stand at my bedside even with the assistance of my husband and two others. This paralysis lasted from 7:00pm until mid morning the following day. They did a test which determined that I didn't have a spinal lesion, and told me it could be Todd's Paralysis, but that is only associated with Epilepsy. They couldn't tell me if I had Epilepsy or not, so they didn't know what caused it. I had 3 days of intense physical therapy to get me walking again without crossing by feet over my midline, and walking on the outside bones of my feet. 

These are pictures by the 3rd day of physical therapy. I was doing much better by this point. Due to the 12 feet of internet cording connected to the EEG video monitor, I was only able to walk a short distance outside my doorway and down the hallway.

We worked on my balance, and making sure that as I walked I paid a great deal of attention to how my foot was landing on the ground. Heal, then toe.