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04 11 00
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04 11 00
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Before I worked where I am now, I really didn't understand what a seizure was. The word conjured up images of people thrashing about on the floor while swallowing their tongues. Since them I've learned that there are different extremes of seizures. While some people do thrash about, some are very quiet when they have a seizure - their muscles stiffen and they go silent. Today one of the regular drivers was off, so I got her route. When I went to the MRDD workshop to do my pickups, I was told that one of my passengers had been having seizures all day. I nodded and wheeled her out to the bus. "Ready to go home?" I asked her. "Sure am," said "June." I started strapping her chair in when I saw her posture change slightly. Raising my head, I saw all her limbs stiffen out straight, and her eyes were focused nowhere in the distance. "June?" I said quietly. Nothing happened, so I waited. Her arms slowly started loosened, and she brought them up to cover her face. When I said her name again, she looked up at me, her eyes far away and spacy. Then she started screaming. I ran to get the site director, who came out and talked with June for a bit. Apparently the seizure had scared June a bit. She was also tired; she had been seizing all day and just wanted to go home. I sympathized. We were almost to her home when she had another seizure. In the rearview mirror, I saw her stiffen and twist her head to the side unnaturally. I was on a narrow, rural road, however, and couldn't pull over wherever I wanted to. As soon as I found a safe place, I stopped and went back to her. The seizure was over, but she was still spacy. I squeezed her hand and smiled at her, trying to be encouraging. "You're almost home," I said. "Just a few more miles." She gave me a wan smile in return, slumping back into her chair. I've heard it called a "storm in the brain" when a person has a seizure. Something misfires, and suddenly the person has no control over their body. I can't imagine that happening to me. Sometimes my leg will twitch or my arm will stiffen for a moment, of its own accord, and I find it terribly disturbing when that happens. I can see how June - or anyone else for that matter - would be upset that thier whole body has mutinied. For the rest of the day, in my mind, I could see June stiffening... Her body's silent obediance to her brain's faulty commands.
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Quit-o-meter I have been Quit for: 4 Days 21 Hours 39 Minutes 46 Seconds. I have NOT smoked 49 cigarettes, for a savings of $6.37. Life Saved: 4 Hours 5 Minutes.
______ of the Day Today's sighting was three deer. I caught them running across the field by the office just as the sun was setting.The grazed at the edge of the wood for a few minutes, just a few hundred feet from a very busy intersection. Then they melted into the woods like they had never been there at all.
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