Reflections

I honestly believe with all of my heart that God prepares us for things that will come about in our lives.  One of those things that happens to you and you have no clue that it is preparing you for what lies ahead.  It is only when something happens to you, sometimes years later, that it hits you.  I was prepared for this moment long ago and I am not alone, I will be alright.  My moment hit me this week, it may have taken me over 2 years to realize it but it hit me.  If you have been following my blog for a while or look back at older posts, you will see that my oldest daughter has Epilepsy.  She was diagnosed back in August of 2009 after having a seizure in my arms.  The visuals I have of that morning are still terrifying to me and I think I have been so focused on her treatment and spreading awareness and everything else going on in my life that I never sat down and realized, almost 6 years ago, 4 years before she was ever diagnosed, I had a taste of what my life was going to be.

We used to live in Virginia.  Because we were so close to Washington DC, we would travel there every now and again and see the sights.  We had the hotel we always stayed at and were able to walk to the metro stations and take ti around all over the city.  I am not sure of the name of the station that was near our hotel but it had a huge escalator that got you underground to the metro.  I am not sure if I am giving the size of this thing any justice by just saying huge, this thing was more than huge, I am sure if it went straight up and down it would be at least 8 stories tall.  You could not see the bottom when hopping on it and halfway through, you could no longer see the top.  It is not terrifying, it goes slow but being on an angle really screws with your head.  I think it was our second trip up to DC and we were once again on the gigantic escalator, looking forward to spending a day in our nations capital.  About halfway through, a woman who looked to be in her 20's collapsed.  A gentleman with her jumped over the rails and used the stairs (I forgot to mention the stairs that ran in the middle of the escalators, if you were a super athlete and wanted to use them) to run to the bottom and turn the escalator off.  Some people around the woman were screaming but the people with her remained calm and asked everyone around them to calm down as well.  The escalator eventually stopped and within minutes they had the girl off and being taken to the bottom by using the stairs.  I was pretty shaken.  What the heck just happened?  Would she be ok?  I remember my oldest asking if the lady would be ok and I told her I didn't know but it looked like they knew what they were doing.  After the escalator started moving again and we made it to the bottom, the girl was sitting on a bench drinking a bottle of water and people around her were making sure she was ok.  Since we had to wait for out train, we were able to hear them talk to others.  I heard things like "yes, she is ok, this happens all the time"  "She is ok, the seizure was a typical seizure for her", they kept asking if she felt fine and she was responding as if nothing had happened.  I was very confused.

Who knew that 4 years later I would be in the same spot.  Only, it wouldn't be routine for my family.  That morning brings back bad memories, seeing her not breathing, her lips turning blue, her body violently shaking in my arms and her unresponsive for more than 30 minutes after, we thought she was gone.  After those 30 minutes she was ok.  She sat up and was eventually smiling, able to answer questions.  We took a couple ambulance rides and were admitted to a children's hospital in our area where she went through numerous tests and was diagnosed.  I sat in awe this week after remembering our DC trip.  That could be us one day, seizures can come even when you are on vacation, they don't care where you are. 

Another thing that hit me from that day was the way it was all handled.  They knew what they were doing, they knew what to tell the people around them and they knew the kind of help their friend/daughter/sister, whoever she was, they knew what she needed.  I did not know what to do that morning.  Luckily my mom and my daughters father were there and were able to tend to her while I called 911.  But they still made mistakes and it is all because we as a society don't know what to do.  We may vaguely remember what was told to us years ago, put something in their mouth so they don't swallow their tongue.  Did you know it is impossible to do that?  This week a friend of mine shared a clip form the Dr.Oz show.  He actually went over seizure safety, never before have I seen this on day time television.  It was a great clip, he pulled a lady form the audience to help and show what she would think to do (which was obviously not right) and then he proper things to do.  If you have a couple of minutes, please watch the video and be informed.  You never know if something like this can happen to your loved ones or if you see a stranger who needs help.  My friend Julie who lives in Japan told me that she was at a local market and saw a lady having a seizure and everyone was standing around watching her, not knowing what to do.  She was amazing and stepped in.  I am sure I don't have to tell you how amazing that act is to me and how much she means to me, she is a rock star!  So, please watch and be like Julie, help someone when they are in need!!!

http://www.doctoroz.com/videos/seizure-first-aid

Epilepsy Awareness Month is next month and I am planning some special events.  If you live in the Southern California area and would like to get involved, please let me know.  If you do not live in the area and would like to help anyways, please contact me.  Together we can make a difference!!!!!