Bump in the night.

Well I can't say exactly what happened but I can take a very good guess at it! A good few mornings ago now I woke up with a very swollen bruised and carpet grazed elbow along with matching grazes to my face. They definitely weren't there when I went to bed.

Nice isn't it? This is actually when the bruising and swelling had gone down enough for there to actually be a bend in my elbow! 

The thing is when it happened I woke up in my bed again so I can't be sure where I bumped myself in the house... I have a flicker of memory of being on the landing floor outside my room.. but I might just be imagining that. I could have simply seized my way on the floor next to my bed and collected my head and elbow on the way down. I just don't know and I never will.

I had managed to put up with the pain for a day and night but it just kept swelling and was very painful. Plus I woke up so many times in the night I guess from moving it in my sleep. We went to a country show the next day and eventually I got so fed up of the pain that I went to the first aid tent to ask their opinion. She took one look at it and the first thing the first aider asked was who I had been to see to get it looked at and when I told her no one her face was a picture. She pretty much demanded I go to the nearest A+E department and have it checked there and then. Anyway that evening I went to the hospital and had it examined and x-rayed to be told it was not broken (thankfully!) and that I had damaged the soft tissue down to the bone. It'll take a fair while to heal and will be in pain with it for a while but they gave me some super strength painkillers to go and made my way back home. 

It might seem silly that I didn't have my arm checked and x-rayed sooner but I really can't stand the idea of wasting the NHS's time and money. That and because I have to spend so much time in hospitals it makes me shiver to think about going into one. Even routine appointments make me ultra nervous because you never know whats going to be said and how it's about to change life.

Well it's on the way to healing now. It's very hard learning to do everything with one arm but hey ho I can count my lucky stars it's not broken :)

Another VEEG session

I recently had another 3-day session of video telemetry. As far as I know I typically managed to not have any seizures (as far as I know) but I'm still waiting on the results so they may say otherwise. 

Ironically it was supposed to be a 5 day session and two days after I left the hospital which would have been the 5th day I was there I had multiple seizures. 

If you're interested in what its like to go through an experience like this I wrote what my time in the video telemetry unit was like in a previous POST the last time I was admitted there. 

Believe me when I say having video telemetry is not fun!! It's very boring (if you're conscious that is). You're confined to a single room with very little to do apart from watch TV/DVDs, chatting and eating. 

Tea drinking, watching films with my friends and staring out of the window was pretty much all I did for 3 days straight! The last image is myself after having all the electrodes taken off leaving behind a sore head but happy with a t-shirt that arrived in the post while I was there from the amazing charity Epilepsy Sucks UK. They provide anti-suffocation pillows so those who suffer with seizures in their sleep for free! Check them out! 

Little Willow

I've just spent the week staying my sister and beautiful baby niece Willow-Jade :) 

It was the first time I've gotten the chance to spend some time with Willow and every last second was wonderful.

Here we are chilling out after a lovely meal out with no seizures in sight!

We have a family party tomorrow so that beautiful baby smile will be present again :D Excited!!! 

A new edition :)

Amazing news!!

I'm and Auntie!!! Yep my younger sister has had a beautiful baby girl and named her Willow-Jade a little while ago. They live about 4 hours away so I've only managed to spend a few hours with her as when I was supposed to staying with them for a week but I got too poorly. Those few hours were so great though. I've never really had the chance of spending much time with a newborn I was ten when my youngest sister was born but I can't really remember exactly what it was like. When I first arrived at their home I hugged my sister after she opened the door and within seconds I'd melted after spotting little Willow all curled up in her bouncer. She was just so teeny!

My lovely invite to go and stay with them is wide open and guess what?? I'm off there today!!! My mum and my youngest sister (who hasn't met Willow yet) are coming along for today then our dad and step mum who again haven't met her yet are coming along tomorrow to spend sometime with them :) It's so exciting!

They are then heading home tomorrow but I'm staying with them for a week or so :D 

I'll be so engrossed in enjoying it all I doubt I'll be on here but there will be plenty of photo's to show with stories to tell and hopefully very little seizures to report!

x 

New Epilepsy drug released.

It has been announced that a new drug to treat Epilepsy has been introduced to Wales.

Here is a link on the BBC News website if you're interested.

"The decision by the All Wales Medicines Strategy Group means access to a drug called Fycompa which can help some people control their seizures." 

Although it will not suit a lot of people it's a new hope for many and that is simply amazing news!! I'll listening out for future news on this from others I know in Wales. Fingers crossed for many. 

Those sharp edges.

They look so innocent don't they, a nice looking chest of drawers quietly sitting in the corner of my bedroom full of my neatly folded clothes. 

But no... when you have seizures they can become, along with any other pieces of furniture you happen to have around the house, a bringer of pain! Those nicely finished edges become hard pointy bits that like to attach themselves to the sides of your skull with an almighty bang. Sorry for over dramatising there but yet again I have been nursing a rather large lump and my gosh did it hurt. The same as every other time. This time it happened to me the other day.. The irony is my step mum had specifically told me to stop leaving one of the particularly stiff to close drawers open... then literally the next morning bang I had a seizure, fell backwards and smacked my head right on that very drawer! Queue a nicely formed egg on my head, neck pain, hardly moving for fear of vomiting all day, bruises all up the backs of my thighs (due to also landing on various pairs of shoes) and a nice if not painful trip to the doctors as an emergency. Not fun. 

On a serious note though anything like this actually does become a serious hazard for someone who falls or looses sense of awareness during a seizure. Much like a toddler would, we are very likely to bump into, land on or catch ourselves on any unsuspecting objects that might be around and about, so if possible it's a good idea to find some form of protection. Obviously it's just not possible to avoid every situation that might arise involving the body and the edge of a piece of furniture but there are some things a person can do to help if possible like:

Cover any immediately obvious edges with something soft e.g. foam or rubber edging..

Remove certain items out of harms way completely..

Try to stay away from objects obviously this might not be possible both space wise and through lack of awareness if they tend to wonder during a seizure..

Wear protection like a helmet for example..

Ooo stairs another massive hazard in a lot of homes in which case many people use stair gates..

Anythings worth a try when it means you're far less likely to end up covered in bumps and bruises!! x