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Thursday, March 1, 2012

Well when you don' t have something nice to say...

in the South we're taught not to say anything at all...and lately there has been NOTHING appropriate to say...but maybe since I've waited a month I can find a little humor and use a few less curse words...maybe...

so I had Viral Meningitis and I was released from the hospital after 5 days and I was home recovering...Everyday my head was KILLING me and the nausea was intolerable.  My aunts and mom were taking turns watching over me.  On a specific Tuesday, Morgan was home sick from school (her mouth was full of stress ulcers - go figure...) and she and my mom came over to check on me at 12:30.  I was fine watching TV.  At 1:30 my aunt was back at my house to meet the bus for early dismissal, and of course she checked on me when she got to my house.  Instead of finding me watching TV, she found me unconscious in my bedroom with a table and lamp on top of me, cords wrapped around me, blood coming from my mouth and scratches and blood on my face...she called my mom who called 911immediately...

what makes me cry everytime I think of it is the fact that the school bus arrived just as 2 fire trucks, 2 police cars and the ambulance arrived.  So the girls saw Mommy not only unconscious on the bedroom floor, they also saw her loaded onto the ambulance and taken away.  My mom went with me and my aunt stayed with them until Shane could race home and settle them down.  I only thought amnesia was for soap operas, but the doctors used the term often.  I remember very little about what happen.

The most confusing part was the ambulance ride.  I had NO IDEA where I was, WHY I was there, and here's the kicker...I was BLIND...if you hadn't guessed by now I had a seizure and it occurred in the ocular lobe and it caused me to go COMPLETELY BLIND for 12 hours...but it probably wasn't 4-6 hours into the ordeal that I asked Shane to remove the covers over my eyes that everyone realized I was blind (but I didn't realize I was blind - I was just confused)...and at that point, they hadn't determined what had actually happened...believe me I had EVERY test the hospital had to offer...and still no one was saying much...

luckily when I woke in the morning I could see...not perfectly, but at that point, anything was better than blind!

so by law after the seizure I can't drive for 6 months, and by "Shane and Melanie law", I haven't been alone since the seizure occurred (like not for a MINUTE)...I know they are just concerned...I get it...

I'm on 6 anti-seizure pills a day (Topamax) and adjusting to those side effects (you may mistake me for an alligator, just hand me some moisturizer).  Hopefully since the headaches and nausea are disappearing, the swelling in my brain from the meningitis is subsiding.

I wish I could tell you this was the end of the road and there are only clear a skies ahead....not so...I just need to take a break...I get tired pretty fast and I haven't been up this late in a while...

One of my best friends reminded me today that "Every day is a gift.  May feel like that shitty re-gift that you can't return and are really just stuck with, but it's still a gift"...she's right...I have an EEG tomorrow, but there's quite a bit to report from the end of this post to now...

I'll get to it....very soon....

5 comments:

Kathleen Loughran said...

Oh my goodness!?!?!? When are you and your family going to catch a break! I will keep praying for you! I wish there was more that I could do. If there is PLEASE let me know!

Anonymous said...

Sweet Jesus, Heather! I've been checking your blog for a couple weeks and not to be a Debbie Downer but I was concerned something was wrong. I'm so sorry you're going through all of this. How scary. But I know you are a fighter. I will pray for your continued healing and that you have the strength to get a bit better each day! Hugs and LIOB(havent used that in a million years)-Erin

Jeanne Pellerin said...

Praying like a crazy person for you, Heather. After I recovered from meningitis, every time I got a headache, I panicked, thinking that the meningitis was back. Praying that you remain free of any and all illness and injury. God bless you!

MelV said...

See if your docs will give you a script for Trileptal instead, it has far less side effects than most anti-seizure meds. I took it for years. Praying for you all.

Reba Parks said...

Heather I am praying for you and your family every day! May you get a break very soon......you have more stamina and strength than anyone I know. God bless you!