It started yesterday. I didn't have a ride to work so I walked. It's like a mile maybe a mile and a half walk. That's nothing, I can walk that in my sleep. I was walking fine I could see my work just across the street and then everything went black. Apparently while I was walking I collapsed and began convulsing. Two men happened to be driving down the street and watched it happen so they ran across the street and got the fire department. Because I was wearing the darn sweatshirt and unresponsive they cut the sleeves of my sweatshirt to start a line and get a set of vitals. I honestly don't remember any of this. I remember waking up and one of the firefighters started asking me the usual string of questions as well as where I worked. When I told him I didn't know where I was he said I was across the street from work. I asked him if I was going to be able to make it... he said I should probably just call in. That's the last thing I remember. But the day goes on. I was transported to the hospital because the seizures were still happening. While in the ambulance they gave me an aceditive to relax my muscles hoping to stop the seizures so now I'm just flat out loopy and seizy. It's not the most glamourus of combinations. The next thing I remember is being in the hospital and feeling like little ants were crawling all up my back and then when they made it to my neck they started to crawl down my legs. At first my mom thought I was just over reacting over a little itch. But then I started bawling and gasping for air. I was having an allergic reaction to some of the medication they gave me to help stop the seizures. They gave me more meds to counteract the reaction and help me breath. Next thing I knew it was four hours later and I was in a new hospital. The ER doctor came in and told me that I'm not having seizures. That none of the tests prove that its seizures and that it's all psychological. Now I understand that that's possible. But I've seen a psychiatrist and they've cleared me of conversion disorder. He kept saying that they could have killed me by giving me that medication that I didn't need and that it was my fault for not telling them they weren't actual seizures. I was told by my neurologist that they were atonic seizures which is indeed a form of seizures. So they're telling me that my neurologist was lying.. it was really really complicated and there was a lot of tears and doctors yelling at me and my mom and my mom fighting back. I really didn't have that kind of energy that late in the day and with so much stuff running through my veins. It was really quite an ordeal. The next thing I remember is getting admitted to my room really late at night and falling asleep soon after that. The next morning wasn't nearly as exciting. There was more confrontation with doctors and more medication but I was released by the end of the day. There are still so many holes in the story that I don't think I'll ever figure out.
But I've come to the conclusion that you can't plan for everything. My mom couldn't have planned that she would have to get into a debate with an ER Dr., I never planned that I would get picked up off of a sidewalk and get drugged up to no end. You can't plan for everything. All you can do is learn from it and use that information to help you plan for other things. I never planned to be allergic to an anti-seizure medication and yet I learned that and now I'm planning ways to prevent me from ever coming in contact with it again. What are some of things you didn't plan for, but ended up learning something from?
More bracelets to add to the collection. I actually do remember taking this picture. Most of the drugs had worn off by this point. |
Keep your head up and take it one step at a time,
Ellie <3