Seizure
-Breathe, Paul, just breathe. Youre o.k. Just breathe.-
A hand rubs his back while another one grips his right arm hard every time he threatens to smash his face on the nightstand. Quivering on the bedroom floor he gasps for air between seizures, then settles down into a gentle rhythmic whimpering until the next seizure begins. He probably wont remember any of it.
This morning my neighbor Barbara ran past my door screaming for help, her boyfriend was having an epileptic seizure. She told me to keep him on his side and make sure he doesnt bite his tongue. Wedged between the bed and nightstand the way he was, keeping him on his side was easy enough. About the tongue biting thing though, I just had to hope for the best, and thank my lucky stars that its probably not as common as people think. As far as I know, theres not much I could do except keep him from bumping into things, give him as much room as possible and wait it out.
Barbara told me later that no one else would help her. I dont think they knew how to help. I didnt either actually, so I asked Barbara what to do. I kept him company while she called an ambulance.
A few things stuck in my mind from this.
~ If you have a condition that will freak out your loved ones, warn them ahead of time. Your new boyfriend/girlfriend probably doesnt want to find out about your epilepsy when you fall to the floor in the supermarket.
~ No matter how well you think you know your address, consider writing it down somewhere very easy to find, in case your mind goes blank in an emergency.
~ You dont have to be an expert to help, just do what you can. My teenager fed Barbaras kids to keep them out of the way. That was a huge help.
If you have any epilepsy advice, I would love to read it.
11 words of wisdom and smart remarks:
well, I know this doesn't really compare, but my dog has epilepsy, and he has seizures every day. I can kind of tell when he is about to have one cuz he sticks VERY close to me and follows me EVERYWHERE. I just sit with him, make sure he doesn't hurt himself, and talk softly to him.
It is very scary, but just think what that person feels, ya know?
Your new boyfriend/girlfriend probably doesn't want to find out about your epilepsy when you fall to the floor in the supermarket.
Or during sex.
Beth - I think it's similar. Poor doggie. They say dogs can be very sensitive about epilepsy, and can even warn their epileptic people that a seizure is coming.
Talking to him seems to help, then? I'm glad. I was trying to talk gently like that to Paul, but his GF is the nervous type, yelling and carrying on in the background. *sigh.*
Woozie - silly boy! I guess that would be pretty scary and weird.
I mentioned the supermarket because that's where Barbara was when she first saw Paul have a seizure. But in bed probably wouldn't have been any better.
This one of several helpful websites with advice on what to do if someone has an epileptic siezure:
http://www.epilepsy.org.uk/info/firstaid.html
This is valuable information for everyone to know.
There is a school of thought that says not to touch someone while they are having a seizure. There are several reasons for this. The elctric charge in your body could stimulate the electric charge in the persons body whick isi already gone haywirer and is causing the seizure in the first place. You should never try to put anything in a persons mouth while they are having a seizure. It is rare if not impossible for them to swallow their tongues but they bite down hard and sometimes draw blood. They might bite through anything you put in your mouth and injure themselves or choke on it. Needless to say, their mouth isi not a safe place for your fingers no matter what you think is happening. It is not reall necessary to get them on their sides, either. If they are banging their heads, put a pillow or something soft under it or between them and anything hard that any part of their body is hitting. Don't use your hands. Don't move them unless they are hitting something. I would have probably moved him out from between the bed and the night stand if there was room in the floor where he would not hit anything and I thought I could do it safely.
Also, it is good to time the seizure if you can. The medical team will want to know how long it has lasted and it will seem longer than it actually is so if you get a chance to look at a clock or watch at the beginning and at the end, it is a good thing.
Hope this helps.
Brian - thanks. I notice the site says not to put anything in the person's mouth. That's good to know, because a lot of people mistakenly think they should.
Seventh Sister - thanks, that's great information.
I tried to move Paul into a bigger place but I couldn't get a grip on him, and I'm not that strong, so there he stayed. I did make sure his face and throat were as far as they could be from the nightstand.
I wouldn't even know where to start to warn loved ones about me! just kidding!
I agree with seventh sister. Never try to put anything in their mouth. Keep them as far away from furniture or anything that might hurt them as possible. Usually people can tell when they are going to have a seizure by an "aura", and a lot of people who live with epileptics are sometimes so attuned to their behavior that they can almost tell.
Sounds like you did everything the right way.
Good for you for helping... BUT, isn't it a shame that you were the only one willing to do so? It's sad actually...
Spongy - I'm beginning to suspect sometimes you might actually enjoy freaking people out.
Heh. :)
Just Me - I didn't know they could sometimes feel a seizure coming. Thank goodness for that. Glad to hear I did o.k. I guess there's really not much that can be done other than try to protect the person.
Art - I'm not sure if other neighbors didn't care, or just didn't know what to do. That's why I'm blogging about it. I'm learning something new, and hopefully someone else might too. I hope they care.
You had such a great presence of mind Anne and your neighbor's lucky to have had you and your kids near her. These patients usually are advised to wear medicalert which is a bracelet stating their condition,address etc. Seventh sister has covered pretty much the important stuff.
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