Ooooops

My bad. 

I keep waiting for something funny to happen. Nothing really good since the 'lady' in the grocery store. 

Lots of seizures. I had bilateral "fiddle head ferns" happen for the first time. Woo-hoo. 

Just trying to get through, ya know?

Tonight's Post from Facebook, Word for Word:

 

I was going back and forth as to whether I should post this story, but then I realized that it points out the huge need for more knowledge and understanding, so... here goes.

For those who didn't know this, I have a seizure disorder. I have 15-40 seizures per day, mostly so small that I can hide them. Well, I was shopping at Fred Meyer, and a pretty strong one came on, just in my right arm -- not unusual. So I let it happen and kept shopping. This woman came charging up to me, looking like she was going to blow a gasket. I was just about to explain to her that I was fine, nothing to worry about, when she said, "You shouldn't be doing that, moving like that! It looks like you are imitating a seizure, and someone with epilepsy could see it and think you were making fun of them! Just stop it!"

I stared at her for a moment, not moving other than my arm. Then I busted out laughing. Maybe not the best reaction, but that was what came out. She did not like that. "This isn't funny! I should have you kicked out of the store! This isn't funny at all!" The best I could come up with was, well, yes, it was indeed funny that she would walk up to someone who was having an epileptic incident and say something like that. Yeah, that didn't go over too well either. "You're not epileptic -- you're not foaming at the mouth!" Yeah, more laughing and more seizing.

An employee came up to us and asked if something was wrong. The woman again accused me of making fun of epileptics by "pretending to wiggle" (huh?). He looked at my arm, then looked at her and said, "My sister is epileptic. She has unilateral limb seizures just like that all the time. This is real." She looked at him with her mouth open, then looked at me, then back at him and said, "Oh, so you are in on this too? You're both in on this?" After a beat, he and I both started laughing. "Well, I never!" and she stormed out.

I offered to help him put her groceries away. He said, "No sweat. Totally worth it. This story is going to have my sister in stitches."

Meh...

Nothing much to talk about. Some strange seizures, but not that strange. Some unusual pains, but nothing terribly unusual. On my third foster dog, who I thought would be adopted quickly, but he's been with us over a month now. Summer show went well, school has started. I'm keeping the weight sort of down. 

I guess a lack of excitement is a good thing. 

Oh, No, You Didn't!

Awakened at roughly 5:45am by a long, rolling earthquake. I like earthquakes, so I didn't panic, but I was surprised by how long it lasted. Then I started to go back to sleep... until I realized that none of the dogs had made a peep. So I hopped on Facebook -- no posts. Went on the earthquake app on my phone. Nothing. 

 

Dag-nabbit, seizure! That was an evil trick to play!

The "Perfect" Storm

I have a foster pup right now, along with my three boys. It is definitely a challenge even though he's a wonderful dog, and for the most part the boys are getting along quite well with him.

Then came the storm.

Linus was in my lap. Dodge (foster) was on the ottoman, using one of my legs as a pillow. A little more suddenly than usual, I had a fairly major bilateral leg seizure come on. Linus knows what to do -- he got off of me in order to sit right next to me until it started slowing down. Dodge, of course, had not experienced such a thing. He thought I was playing with him... so he naturally thought the thing to do was to attack my legs. Linus went into full protection mode. He was ready to tear Dodge apart. I was still fully seizing, but knew I had an emergency on my hands. While commanding both dogs vocally, I managed to stand up on thoroughly shaking legs. I got a hold of Dodge and pulled him through the room to the kennel room, and got him into his kennel. I made it most of the way back to the couch before the legs gave out. Linus was going crazy between barking at Dodge and checking on me. Mr. B was pacing in the corner; he generally has a tough time with my seizing. Buddy was on alert but stayed on the far edge of the couch the whole time. The legs finally started slowing down, and Linus climbed on top of me, remarkably calmly. He knows what I need most. I held him for longer than usual. When I was able to get up, I closed the kennel room door and curled up on the couch again. Buddy had relaxed once Linus was on me. Mr. B, bless his heart, then took over Dad-watching duties, and curled up with me. Linus saw that everyone in the room was okay, grabbed his blanket, and made a bed on the floor. 

The storm passed. The next morning, Linus and Dodge were at peace with each other again. But I remained sore for two days... a small price for all four dogs making it through the hurricane.

Getting Tired of This...

 Good news/bad news sort of thing...

 

Yesterday was one of those days when Chronic Fatigue Syndrome ruled the roost, all day long. I still got two good dog walks in, and met a friend at a local eatery, but was dragging the whole time. I did almost nothing else. 

 

But where is the good news part, you ask?

 

I can't remember the last time CFS owned me all day long. Honestly, no idea. So with the seizures getting worse, I sure am glad to realize that something is getting better!

Something Old, Something New

 Today I had one of the fiddlehead fern kinds of seizures -- where my arm (almost always the right one) curls up and locks in that position. Nothing new about that...

Except...

It happened while I was going through the dollar DVDs at Cash America. I was holding four treasures that I'd found in my right hand. It curled up around them. I kept shopping, figuring it would loosen up before I was done. No such luck. I got to the counter to buy them, and my left hand could not get at the correct angle to pull the DVDs out of my grip. I had to ask the cashier if she could pull them out, explaining that I was having a seizure and couldn't let go of them. She asked, with huge eyes, if I needed her to call an ambulance. I told her that I was fine, it was a normal occurrence for me, and that no medical assistance was needed. I just couldn't get the cases out of my hand for her to be able to ring them up. She pulled them out, rang up my order, and watched in a bit of awe as I signed the credit card slip (legibly!) by sticking the pen between two fingers and moving my shoulder appropriately. She asked if a bag would help (no thanks), then handed me the DVDs with the receipt neatly wrapped around them. Then, bless her heart, "Is it okay to say have a nice day?" It's just fine.

Holy Crap...

 What a day.

Work was not bad. Weird weather -- rain and snow mixed in the morning, then just snow. In May.

 

Then a followup with the eye doctor, and all the fun light-based tests that go with that. And all the seizures that go with that. Yeah. Somewhere between four and seven of them. At one point I was on the border of a Grand Mal, there in the waiting area between tests. Not amused. But made it through. And the eyes are doing pretty well.

 

Home time was pretty unremarkable. I couldn't do my dog walks thanks to the weather, so I did the treadmill. And then I started to seize on the treadmill. Totally unexpected since I was still moving, not stuck in one position.

 

I'm still recovering, 45 minutes later. Now you understand the title to this entry.

And Now For Something Incompletely Different!

 But it is a new twist for me. Well, yeah, that too.

 

Yesterday I had both kinds of seizure at the same time. My right arm locked up, but then started shaking while still locked up. I have not had both at once. Well, it's pretty painful. And I was at work. One of my best friends there was on his prep period and walked by the door. I asked him if he could cover my class for a few minutes, and he stepped right in. I went to the staff lounge to run my arm under cold water, and the lock unlocked within about 20 seconds. The shaking part of the seizure relaxed soon after that.

 

But here's the kicker. And yes, I think it's funny now. I was shaking hard enough that I managed to sprain my wrist in the process! Only me, right? It's a mild sprain, and really not hindering anything to speak of. And who knew I could do that to myself? I'm a very special guy.

No News Is

 Yeah, whatever.

 

Seizures have been taking over the spotlight, and they are not that fun to blog about. Like today: first day back from Spring Break. Seizures were kind of minimal, both in quantity and strength. Cool. Running an errand on the way home from work. Had one so bad in the store, I almost started crying. Two hours later, my arm still hurts. Not acceptable. 

 

And really not interesting to blog about.

 

I'll try to have something more amusing happen some time soon.