More than a year on since Lil Z had her first seizure, I’ve learned to manage them pretty well. Yes, they still strike that chord of fear when they happen, but we have our management plan and it works. It is also comforting to know that it only takes around 15 minutes for an ambulance to reach our house – and around 10 minutes to get to the hospital in the ambulance if we are going in red.
However, take me out of my home environment and suddenly it’s not nearly as straightforward. Very early on, the nanny and I had a conversation about the worst places for Lil Z to have a seizure – and I think Lil Z has now checked most of those off her list. Since she threw me for another loop on Friday, I thought I’d provide my Top Five places that Lil Z has had a seizure. After all, dealing with these seizures, you can laugh or you can cry…
5. Vegemite’s swimming lesson
Had to pull Vegemite out of the pool mid-lesson. I have no doubt I was the topic of conversation amongst the other swim mums for weeks afterwards.
4. During a walk in the hospital
Lil Z was admitted to hospital, but had a seizure while I was taking a walk with her. Asking for emergency help on a ward that is not her ward caused a whole lot of confusion. Not to mention we had around 30 people trying to help at one point.
3. Middle of Grocery Shopping
This was Lil Z’s latest feat – having a seizure in the middle of a grocery shop in Coles. I had no idea what to do. By a stroke of good luck, a fellow shopper in the same aisle happened to be an Emergency Department nurse, who was a huge help throughout, and then calmly returned to her shopping when the ambulance arrived. And to Coles credit, they bagged up all the non-perishable items in my cart and gave them to me for free!
2. At a B&B
In the middle of the night, no less. We were horrified at the thought of having to call an ambulance to come roaring up to the lovely, rural bed and breakfast at 4am. Fortunately, Lil Z didn’t require hospitalization that time as the Midaz worked quickly. It was still a pretty unnerving experience though.
1. While I’m driving
By far the worst experience of the lot. And she had to choose when I was in a completely unfamiliar part of town. I wasn’t sure I’d even be able to tell the ambulance where to find us. And then when I decided to drive on to where I was going to get help, it was not a good idea to drive under so much stress. So, this is definitely number one.
oneofthewonders 