Sunday morning January 30th 2012 at 5:30 am Jeff had a grand mal (or the new term tonic clonic) seizure. The first ofhis life. Awoken from sleep, at first I did not know what was going on. Jeff had cried out loudly (ARGHHHHHH!!!) and it appeared he was pointing to his stomach.
Honestly, my first thought was that the cat had jumped on him in his sleep - which has happened before. So I kept asking him "Jeff what's going on? Are you OK? Jeff, Jeff?"
I later realized this was part of his convulsions, he was having a very violent seizure. I
kept asking him what was wrong, while I watched him, hands fisted at his stomach and
convulsing so hard his upper body came off the bed. When the physical symptoms
stopped I was afraid he’d had stopped breathing and I jumped out of bed and called 911.
While on the phone with the dispatcher, I could hear Jeff take in a breath and snore.
At that point, Jim, my father-in-law rushed into the room. He had been staying in the
guest room and had heard me tell 911 that I thought my husband had stopped breathing.
While I was on the phone, Jim went to Jeff and rolled him to his side. He slapped his
face and tried to roust him awake. After a few minutes, Jeff did wake but his speech was
slurred and he was very confused. While on with 911 I talked to Jeff, he was confused
as to what was going on, but was talking. He kept asking what was going on and then
forgetting I had told him the answer. At that point I was afraid he'd had a stroke. When the
paramedics arrived and took over, I could see him looking over at me and giving me the
look that said “What the hell? Why are all these people here?”
I swear 12 firemen were in my bedroom that morning. They ran a bunch of tests on
Jeff, glucose, blood pressure and took information from me before loading him into the
ambulance. The firemen asked Jeff questions, and it became obvious that he had some
memory loss. He looked over and asked “why is my dad here?” When he had just spent
three days with him in Florida. Jeff did not have any memory for about 48 hours at that
point (later most of it returned) and he never had a recollection of the seizure. After about a half an hour with the paramedics, Jeff was able to walk down the stairs. As he neared the front door he asked me why his pants were wet. I just looked at him, and said “oh, honey, you must have wet yourself.” It was at this point that I knew Jeff had experienced a seizure. Jim rode with Jeff to the hospital while I waited for someone to come to watch the kids (this was because my 2 year old is very clingy after the excitement and would not stay with his grandfather).
I got to the hospital an hour later, Jeff had already had a CAT scan. They had also
given him medication for nausea. The hospital released him and told us to follow up
with a neurologist. Jeff had no recollection of the seizure and had a hard time believing
anything had happened. The only “evidence” for him was that he had wet his pants and
that his tongue hurt. His tongue hurt him for days and he said it actually felt numb for up
to a week.
I made an appointment with a neurologist that day at 4pm. He told us that the seizure
happened because Jeff had been sleep deprived and that he had a 50/50 chance of
never having another seizure. He ordered an MRI and an EEG and told us Jeff could not
drive for 6 months. I specifically asked what to do if he had another seizure. I was told
that I did not need to call 911 or take him to the hospital unless Jeff fell and hit his head
as a result of the seizure. I was told I only needed to call the Doctor and schedule another
appointment.
Sincerely,
Jeff's Wife
The Lord is near the brokenhearted, and saves those who are crushed in spirit.
Psalm 34:18
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