Seizures and Stress

Stress Relief

Friday is my last day at work. I am very excited to move forward in what God is planning. After all of the mounds of stress that I have felt over the last several months and then the last couple of weeks, I have been very worried about Lucy. You see, she has epilepsy. Dr. Carin says that they can come about if she feels the stress of her humans

So, you can see why I’ve been so worried about her. But…no seizures! Although, the last couple of days have been a bit different about her, and I can’t tell you what the difference has been, but I have been expecting and watching her carefully out of the corner of my eye. Gary has too. We didn’t talk about it because we didn’t want to “jinx” her, not that we believe in that kind of thing but we just didn’t want anything to come against her.

Last night, I was talking to Mom and telling her about my “release” from my job and our plans going forward, along with trying to help her fix her printer, (while she is 1100 miles away) when I looked over on the couch and Lucy was just beginning to go into a seizure. Quickly, I dropped the phone and ran to her aid, as she lay paralyzed on the couch, in one huge muscle cramp.

Gary turned down the TV and ran and got an ice pack and an wet rag to wipe her head. She was overheated. Did that make her have a seizure? I don’t think so; it wasn’t that warm in here, but maybe. Was it the release of my tension that she somehow felt? I don’t know. I think it’s awful coincidental though, don’t you?

Anyway, the seizure lasted about a minute and seemed very intense, more so than any in the past. It always blinds her and makes her very confused when she comes out of it. As I was talking to her, she sniffed me as if to say, “Is that you, Mom?” But then she dropped her head back to the couch and wait about twenty seconds and do it again.

Once her eyesight returned, she wanted water and plenty of it. Gary was already getting her extra pill ready. She had just had her evening medication an hour earlier, but she got another dose, just like the doctor instructed.

I read on a website somewhere that after a seizure it’s helpful to give them something sweet like ice cream because it brings up their blood sugar. Well, with Gary and I doing the Weight Watchers thing, I don’t have ice cream in the house, but…we had creamcyles! And they worked perfectly. They also said that going through a seizure was like running a marathon and that they burned a lot of fuel and needed replenishing, so I gave her another scoop of food. (Of course, little brother Wrigley had to have some too.)

She drank at least one bowl full of water if not two. Gary is the water bowl filler, so I’m not sure, but it was a lot. And she paced the living room for a little while, but not nearly as long, I’d say a quarter as long as ever before after applying the little tricks we read from the web. I think cooling her down, which we did with an ice pack and the cool rag and the creamcycle along with more supper made a huge difference in her recovery.

It seems so tragic to watch her go through such a thing. Gary had to immediately kennel Wrigley. He wanted to play with her cuz he didn’t understand what was going on. When he came out of the kennel, (he wasn’t in there ten minutes) she sniffed him in her passing as she paced, as if to say, “Oh, you’re my little brother.” It was cute to watch them.

Of course, now that she’s had one, Gary and I won’t get a good night sleep for a while, both will be on guard waiting and watching every twitch she makes. Usually, she has them at night as she is going to sleep, so when she had it last night, it was close to her bedtime, 7:30. Hopefully, and prayerfully, this was a fluke and we won’t have anymore.