Sunday, January 27, 2008

SEIZURES

Soon after I got home I was told by somebody that I needed to have on hand tongue depressors in event of having a seizure. This was the first I had heard anything about having seizures! I had not been told that Dr. Dial and also Dr. Clark had said that due to the location of the tumor and the fact that “there had been so much manipulation in that area during the removal of the tumor” that I would be very likely to have seizures. I had no idea what having a seizure would be like, but to me, it was a terrifying thought! I was so afraid, I put a tongue depressor in every room in the house, in case I were to have a seizure in that particular room.

I'm so glad I never had an occasion to use one because not until years later, when reading “FIRST AID FOR SEIZURES” put out by The Epilepsy Foundation of America, did I learn: ''DO NOT force a tongue depressor or anything else into a person's mouth while he is having a seizure.
It is NOT true that a person having a seizure can swallow his tongue, and efforts to hold the tongue down can injure teeth or jaws.” I can't remember who told me I needed to have tongue depressors on hand, but that person was certainly misinformed and had surely scared me to death.

Very few people realize that there are many different types of seizures. Most people think of a seizure as being the grand mal convulsive type with the person unconscious, jaw muscle clenched, back stiffened and arms and legs jerking in muscle spasms. But the few seizures I have had are very different from this. I have a warning when a seizure is about to start. I remain awake, can think, talk, and am aware of what is going on while having the seizure. I never fall or pass out, but I do like to find a place to lie down.

When I started back singing with the church choir, I had a horror of maybe having a seizure one Sunday while sitting in the choir where all the congregation could see me. So I worked out a plan with Jack to please sit somewhere where he could see me in case I were to start having a seizure and would need to remove myself from public view. He was to leave church as soon as I did and meet me in the church parlor which was about the only place I could comfortably lie down. I have thanked the Lord many times for my not having to go through the embarrassment of ever having to leave during the church service.

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