Seizures

When Faith was 3 weeks old, Aaron had a seizure. Aaron is epileptic, so this shouldn't be surprising. His first seizure was just before his mission. Then he had two while on his mission. He was put on medication in 1994 in Germany, and did not have a seizure on the medicine. In 2002, his neurologist wanted to take him off the medicine. Aaron was excited that he wouldn't have to rely on the medication anymore. He slowly lowered his dosage over a year's time, and things were going great. When we were separated that December, I had called him to talk about things one afternoon. He started speaking gibberish. I was so mad. I started screaming at him to stop. His mom's voice came on the line "He's having a seizure". I was embarrassed that she heard me screaming at her son, and I was scared because I'd never seen him have a seizure.

I drove to where he was at, and we took him to the neurologist. He wanted to run a test the next morning and see if they could find a reason for the seizure. That night, Aaron had another seizure in his sleep. He bit through his tongue, and when his mom found him there was blood all over the pillow and he was still coming out of the seizure. When his mom called me, I couldn't drive to the house fast enough. We took him in immediately, not waiting for the appointed time. The doctor ran tests, and never found out why the seizures were taking place. Aaron got back on the medicine.

I realize that seizures are fairly common. Everybody knows somebody that has had one. I grew up with an epileptic. When Aaron went back on the medicine, he had severe mood swings. It took months for him to adjust. We got back together after the 2nd seizure, but separated again 3 months later when his mood swings got out of control. Obviously, we worked it out, but it was hard on both of us.

So, when he had a seizure in May of 2010, he was devastated. I was in the living room reading, and he had gone to bed. I heard him shout, and thought he was having a bad dream. (Keep in mind, I had never been around him when he had a seizure) I ignored him, but slowly he started shouting louder, and louder, and the screams were getting close together. Almost on top of each other. I ran down the hall, and he was violently shaking. He was making a horrible groaning sound, and it was like he wasn't breathing. I called 911, and the operator helped me calmly figure out what to do. He was spitting blood all over me. He had bitten through his tongue again. The paramedics came, and my friend and neighbor saw them and came to make sure everything was OK. I was trying not to panic, so it was great to have a friend there to support me.

It took about an hour for Aaron to completely come out of the seizure. He didn't remember me, or the kids. He didn't know where he was, and he was getting very irritated with the paramedics asking him questions. He just wanted to sleep. He'd forget things within seconds of it happening. They checked his blood sugar, and a few seconds later, he asked why he had a band-aid on his finger. When he finally remembered who the president of the United States was, the paramedics left.

The next morning, we started looking for a new neurologist (he had just gotten a letter from the old one that he was no longer treating epilepsy). They couldn't get him in for about 3 weeks, so we lived in fear that he would have another seizure. Aaron had never had a seizure on medication before, so we had never had this worry before. When we finally got in to the doctor, he had to run a bunch of tests. More waiting. They still have no reason for any of his seizures. The doctor gave him a higher dosage. This medication is hard to adjust to, and even just 50 mg. more/day made a huge difference.

Aaron went into a depression. His seizure had really affected him, for the worse. He was scared he'd have another one, and he didn't know when or where it might happen. If it happened on the road, he could be killed; at work, seriously injured; at home, the kids would be traumatized. With that fear, and the higher dosage of medication, Aaron was really struggling. He had also lost his best friend less than one year ago, and his mom wasn't doing well. He was taking care of so many things for his mom because his dad wasn't around anymore. I guess it was my turn to be the strong one, and his turn to be depressed.