This has been a really hard epilepsy week. Last evening marked the third in a row with a tonic-clonic seizure, which I usually have relatively rarely. The result was a restless night due to muscle pain and nausea, and since I was still under the weather this morning, I had to cancel plans, activating my … Continue reading Seizure-Sick
I've been going to see my epileptologist every two weeks or so to have my VNS adjusted—and for other epilepsy stuff—since, um, December? (Maybe since sometime in November. Please excuse my imprecision; I'm going to go ahead and use the "bad memory for neurological reasons" line, but really I'm just too lazy to scan through … Continue reading Two Weeks to Two Months: A Tangible Sign of Progress (Yay!)
A few weeks ago, I lost approximately a third of a tooth. I want it back. I'm still figuring out what to do about it. Over the past year, I've chipped or broken seven or eight teeth during tonic-clonic seizures, but this was by far the largest chunk to fall victim to my epilepsy's hijinks. … Continue reading A Shortish Post about Difficult Dental Stuff
I organized a Purple Day party for the weekend before Purple Day—timing that would have made a lot of sense. I ended up spending that particular Saturday in the hospital, however, so my husband and I were left with two choices: cancel the party or reschedule it. Since I'm writing a post with "purple party" … Continue reading Purple Party: 2018 Edition
My friend Regan recently agreed to indulge me by allowing me to virtually interview her (i.e., I sent her a document with questions, and she answered them). She even drew a self-portrait to go along with it. You may notice that the quality of her stick-figure picture is much, much, much higher than the "quality" … Continue reading (Virtual) Interview with Regan: A DMS Exclusive!
I was discharged from the neuro ward last Monday evening (appropriately, I guess, the date of my release coincided with Purple Day [for epilepsy awareness]). Except for an appointment a few days ago and a ten-minute walk yesterday afternoon, I've been more or less chilling ever since. I hate chilling. Although I'm super happy to … Continue reading I’m Home, Getting Better, and Really Cranky
Note: I wrote this blog entry yesterday and only got around to posting it today. Some of the content is slightly outdated. This will be short, for a reason that will soon become evident. It might also be sloppy, but not as bad as the garbled text messages that I was sending a few … Continue reading Crushed Dream: An Unexpected and Unwanted (Obviously) Hospital Stay
As of last Thursday, and after two rounds of treatment, I'm officially finished my neuro day-hospital program. It feels super good. Time to reflect! Given my tendency to worry that I've plateaued or am plateauing in my recovery, I've found it important, especially over the past month or so, to keep reminding myself that I've made … Continue reading Graduation!
I'm currently prescribed five anticonvulsants. Five. Some are better than others, but each is its own special flower/beast, in terms of side-effect profile. That said, I'm grateful that I've found a combination of medications that's kept me out of the hospital since the summer.* Among the drugs currently inhabiting my blister pack is phenytoin (Dilantin), … Continue reading Dilantin, ER, Vomit: A(nother) Scattered Blog Post
If I'm not mistaken, my last post, about travelling with my VNS, ended with something about how I was starting to get anxious about the trip back to Toronto. At the time I wrote it, I was mostly joking. It turned out, however, that those simple words were enough to jinx the homeward voyage. Not … Continue reading A Delayed Update about Delayed Travel
De Morbo Sacro: Life and/with Epilepsy 