August 14, 2004
The Week At The Epilepsy Monitoring Unit
Well, it's been a while since I wrote in here, I had a long week in the Monitoring Unit!! It was a good one though....YAY!!!!
It was weird being attatched to all those wires and knowing I was being watched 24/7. It also did make me feel safe though, knowing that whenever I had a seizure someone would be there to help me out. I never know when they happen, the type I have, no auras or anything.
I had one seizure when they had me disconnected from the EEG because they had to re-connect some of the wires, so they re-connected me, but the doctor needed to see how the seizure began. So we waited a few more days for another one. What was weird about that was I wasn't taking all my meds!! I was only taking one of my four that I usually take twice a day of Carbatrol ........
none of the Topamax!!!! They tried taking me off all the Carbatrol, but that didn't work well for me, I had some serios "twitches"...thought they were some weird seizures. Had to put me back on one capsule twice a day of the Carbatrol. After that got under control, a few days later I finally had a seizure and then got the good news!! My seizure activity is on the left side. That is a good thing...it's the same as all the activity seen before it....they saw a lot of that I guess....had to wait on what they called a "full-blown seizure".
Right now I am waiting to have a PET test which is like an MRI only it's based on metabolism. I have it done Aug.25th. After that I have memory testing to be scheduled....that takes a while to get scheduled I guess.
I won't be doing surgery 'til next summer due to my work...I have summers off and have little sick time due to the major accident I had. I'll need a lot of time off for this! It definitely gives me something to look forward to. I can't imagine me personnally changing my mind about surgery. These hormones have messed up my life long enough!!
Almost forgot!! This doctor also started me on a new medicine for my arthritis!! Something my GP was "afraid" to do due to variety of meds I am on. The med is WONDERFUL!!!!!!!! My ankle looks as close to normal as it has since the accident!! My lower leg also has been swollen really bad...this med has taken care of that too!! Honestly, I think taking care of that will help my depression a bit!! I'm getting older, but I'm not THAT old...lol!! After my initial accident I felt like I was "falling apart".....all due to hormones that were out of control!!
I am feeling so much better due to my leg and the fact that there is going to be a chance for surgery. I've talked with others in Groups online about surgery and there may be some problem with memory loss when I do surgery...may be tempory or permanent...depends on who I talk to. I decided I could deal with it either way! Right now I am having problems with it due to perimenopause...temporary....could just turn into permanent....if I get the ability back to drive and have to write some things down I think I could deal with that.
Frustrating though that I have to make those kind of choices!! Darned hormones!!!!
I just am so grateful that I've been put with another really good doctor!! She was so good the entire time I was at the Monitoring Unit and I am so comfortable working with her and that's a good thing. I can remember when I had doctors that weren't so good except for one Neurologist! He's the one who got me referred to all these other doctors!!
I really hope all this helps someone else. I know how hard it's been for me. Will try not to be so long before I write the next time!!
Posted by Rhonda on August 14, 2004 9:39 AM