I am in two minds about posting this but I think it is important.
On Wednesday, one of my biggest fears became a reality. Miss A had a partial seizure. Why was this one of my biggest fears? I had partial seizures when I was a child.
I often hoped that none of my children had to experience seizures. Well I assume they were seizures, way back in the 80s and 90s I don’t think there was a lot of knowledge about partial seizures. I have done some research about what I went through and they do seem to match the symptoms of some sort of partial seizure. Miss A definitely did have a partial seizure, the doctor(s) said so.
Miss A’ s seizure started with the following word’s. “I feel dizzy”. Those three words were said by me probably over a hundred times to my parents. I thought nothing of it at first as feeling dizzy doesn’t mean that someone is going to have a seizure. Miss A was then stumbling and reaching out for something to hold on to but nothing was near. I supported her and took her to safety, if she collapsed in the kitchen, where she was at the time, she would of hurt her head, we have tile floors. One thing to replace if this is going to be a regular occurrence.
She started to cough. Not loudly but there was a rhythm to the coughing. Her eyes then fixed upwards and to the left. She then started to swallow rhythmically. This was the time that I knew I had to phone an ambulance and kind of knew this was probably some form of seizure. She very quickly after stopped communicating, she said the odd sentence beforehand but this was the point she became completely out of it, not unconscious, just not responding to me. I had a few full blown seizures with fever but my partial seizures made me almost go blind (only seeing shadows/sillohettes) and made my whole body be useless. I never was completely out of it. When Miss A did this, I did panic a little. I remained rather calm, I think it helped that I have been through similar myself and I kind of reassured myself with the fact that she was still breathing and not unconscious so she must not be seriously ill.
She slowly came round while I was on the phone to the call handler. Very confused and repetitive and really didn’t make much sense. The ambulance arrived, she was pretty much back to normal apart from having to think about what she was saying and stuttered a bit.
She was kept in overnight to make sure that she didn’t have another seizure. I think she did have a second mild seizure in the waiting room as her eyes went a bit funny and she was sick.
They checked her coordination, did some blood tests and did an ECG, all was normal.
The doctor, who saw her the following morning, said that from what she went through, the seizure started from a specific part of the brain so just in case this wasn’t a one-off and in case that this is something more serious than epilepsy, they will do an MRI. This is happening tomorrow.
Miss A is such a brave and strong girl. A girl that even smiled when she had her blood test done and her cannula fitted. I was passing out at that age as I had a phobia of needles!
What do I think of all of this happening? I am worried. I am worried because I don’t want Miss A to go through what I did. Mine was more than likely to do with my hormones, Miss A is 9. I started my periods when I was 10.
However I know that we can cope if it is epilepsy, I just hope that it isn’t anything more serious. I am trying not to think about that. I am kind of struggling with the fact that it could be epilepsy let alone anything else. This week had better go quickly. Once we have the MRI results, at least we will know.
Miss A has gone back to school, went to her dance classes and also went ice skating, her choice. For all we know, this seizure(s) could be a one-off or just a one time thing (if the second one did happen). Her life is too precious to put things on hold. However everyone knows that if she says “I feel dizzy” then they need to be right by her side to support her and lead her to safety or get her on the floor.
As I said, I am in two minds whether I should post this or not but I do feel that it is important. I need to also tell myself that if it is epilepsy or is a regular occurrence, I grew out of it. It hopefully isn’t forever!
I know Miss A will take it all in her stride and she knows that me and her Daddy will be with her, supporting her and making sure that she has the best childhood we can give her.
I will update this post once we have the results.
No photo of Miss A in hospital. Just a photo of her feeling proud that she has took part in her 3rd ice skating gala. Whatever this is, this girl is strong and brave.
