I Am Living With Epilepsy
So I never updated about what happened when boyfriend and I stayed with his family over Christmas.
I think the last update I gave was when I'd had the second focal seizure in front of his mum and sister.
So, on Christmas Eve we all went to this Christmas Market in town so the kids could see Santa and us grownups could have mulled wine. We'll, this grown up had hot chocolate with the kids because she didn't want to risk the alcohol triggering a seizure 🤣
There were loads of stalls selling handmade crafts and food etc and there was a stage set up with a folk band playing Christmas carols. It was really cool. We stayed for a few hours. The girls were loving it. Boyfriend's nieces had taken a shine to me by this point after being a little shy initially. They were fighting over who got to hold my hand and kept pointing things out to me and pulling me over to different stalls. It was adorable.
Anyway, we'd stopped to watch the folk band and the girls were dancing and singing and enjoying themselves. Boyfriend, his dad and bro in law had gone to get us all more drinks and I was chatting to his mum and sister. And then everything got a bit weird.
I knew his mum was talking to me but I couldn't figure out what she was saying. And then the shimmering colours started to drift in from my peripheral vision and I knew I was going to have a Tonic Clonic seizure. Apparently his mum and sister knew straight away that this was different from the focal seizure I'd had in front of them because of the way my eyes were looking and how pale I'd gone.
My instinct must have been to get out of the crowd because apparently I tried to walk away and his Mum grabbed hold of my arm to stop me. There was no sign of Boyfriend coming back and they had no idea of the time frame they had before the seizure would start so they decided not to risk trying to move me. His sister called the kids over and told them she needed them to stay close because Aunty Kate wasn't feeling well and they might need to help, which really surprised me when I found out because I expected her to shield them from it.
I went into the seizure pretty quickly. His mum realised just as the Tonic phase started and managed to get hold of me. A man who was stood nearby darted over and helped her get me to the ground. Turned out he was an A&E nurse so he stuck around to help out. Boyfriend came back just as the seizure was ending and was able to fill the nurse in on my history. Which was lucky because I can be very post ictal which often ends up with people calling an ambulance unnecessarily because they think something is really wrong.
I was honestly amazed by Boyfriend's family and how they dealt with the seizure. Apparently, his mum did everything perfectly. The nurse didn't need to do anything other than a jaw thrust to keep my airway open (which is something only medics do anyway). As they were getting me on the ground she was already shouting to his sister to get something for under my head and his sister had already set a timer on her watch. I think someone had been doing a bit of Internet research!
Boyfriend told me that when he came back, I'd just stopped seizing and they were putting me in the recovery position. His sister was explaining to the kids what it was and why they needed to do it. The oldest was holding my hand and the youngest was stroking my hair.
Because we'd all got the train in to town, his dad went and got a cab home so that he could drive the car back to get me back to the house quicker. I just couldn't believe how amazing they all were.
I think the last update I gave was when I'd had the second focal seizure in front of his mum and sister.
So, on Christmas Eve we all went to this Christmas Market in town so the kids could see Santa and us grownups could have mulled wine. We'll, this grown up had hot chocolate with the kids because she didn't want to risk the alcohol triggering a seizure 🤣
There were loads of stalls selling handmade crafts and food etc and there was a stage set up with a folk band playing Christmas carols. It was really cool. We stayed for a few hours. The girls were loving it. Boyfriend's nieces had taken a shine to me by this point after being a little shy initially. They were fighting over who got to hold my hand and kept pointing things out to me and pulling me over to different stalls. It was adorable.
Anyway, we'd stopped to watch the folk band and the girls were dancing and singing and enjoying themselves. Boyfriend, his dad and bro in law had gone to get us all more drinks and I was chatting to his mum and sister. And then everything got a bit weird.
I knew his mum was talking to me but I couldn't figure out what she was saying. And then the shimmering colours started to drift in from my peripheral vision and I knew I was going to have a Tonic Clonic seizure. Apparently his mum and sister knew straight away that this was different from the focal seizure I'd had in front of them because of the way my eyes were looking and how pale I'd gone.
My instinct must have been to get out of the crowd because apparently I tried to walk away and his Mum grabbed hold of my arm to stop me. There was no sign of Boyfriend coming back and they had no idea of the time frame they had before the seizure would start so they decided not to risk trying to move me. His sister called the kids over and told them she needed them to stay close because Aunty Kate wasn't feeling well and they might need to help, which really surprised me when I found out because I expected her to shield them from it.
I went into the seizure pretty quickly. His mum realised just as the Tonic phase started and managed to get hold of me. A man who was stood nearby darted over and helped her get me to the ground. Turned out he was an A&E nurse so he stuck around to help out. Boyfriend came back just as the seizure was ending and was able to fill the nurse in on my history. Which was lucky because I can be very post ictal which often ends up with people calling an ambulance unnecessarily because they think something is really wrong.
I was honestly amazed by Boyfriend's family and how they dealt with the seizure. Apparently, his mum did everything perfectly. The nurse didn't need to do anything other than a jaw thrust to keep my airway open (which is something only medics do anyway). As they were getting me on the ground she was already shouting to his sister to get something for under my head and his sister had already set a timer on her watch. I think someone had been doing a bit of Internet research!
Boyfriend told me that when he came back, I'd just stopped seizing and they were putting me in the recovery position. His sister was explaining to the kids what it was and why they needed to do it. The oldest was holding my hand and the youngest was stroking my hair.
Because we'd all got the train in to town, his dad went and got a cab home so that he could drive the car back to get me back to the house quicker. I just couldn't believe how amazing they all were.
41-45, F
