Super mom I am not....

Tonight we went out to eat and our waiter asked "So, did you have a good Christmas?" 
Ummmm, nope! 
In Chris' words "it sucked".

Those words are kind of severe.  I definitely could have been worse.  It definitely could've been better too, though.

It all started Monday night, one week ago, I ran to Fareway to grab some groceries for supper.  As I was shopping, things started getting fuzzy.  Focusing on what I was shopping for became a problem.  The next thing I know I was in the ER and they said I'd had a seizure.  I didn't believe it at first.  No way.  I would've known if I'd had a seizure.  Apparently, you don't.  Slowly my memory came back to me and I remembered trying to find heavy cream for the soup I was going to make.  It's the holiday season so I was going to get the real stuff and that's when it happened.  It was very scary.  Waking up and not knowing what happened.  At the ER, they did blood work and a head CT.  My blood showed slightly low levels of calcium and potassium, but my head CT was normal.  After we were discharged, Chris took me home and I was scared.  When something like this happens and there aren't any warning signs nor explanations, you panic every time you have a little strange feeling or if your vision isn't perfect.  I was very emotional.  I bet Chris felt that when he would turn around, I was crying again and apologizing for this happening.  Since the next day was Christmas Eve, I didn't get into a doctor's appointment until Thursday to try and find answers.  The frustrating part of having a seizure is that everyone wants to know what happened and you can't answer them.  All I could say was what hurt.  My head had a bump on it.  That raises the question "did you faint first and then have a seizure or did you just have a seizure and fall down?"  The answer to that question can mean two dramatically different things!  Great, I don't know what happened.  Next, was it a full seizure or just spacing out (apparently some people just stare off into space and that can be classified as a seizure).  Going by my muscle groups that hurt, they figured it was a full seizure.  My jaw muscles hurt so badly that I think my face looked swollen.  Then my hip muscles (like where the inner thigh comes into the hip joint) hurt so badly.  The other muscles that hurt were my armpit muscles and these would all just ache.  I finally took Tylenol for the pain so I could sleep at night.  For about 5 days or so I would nap each day because I was so exhausted.  Even though it is a short time in the scheme of things, it takes a lot out of you.  I really don't recommend it for anyone :)

Slowly I am getting better each day.  Chris has analyzed my day leading up to the seizure and he's chalked it up to over-caffeinating, stress, and under-eating.  That's all that makes sense because in addition to the ER tests that were done, I've had my blood work re-done, an MRI and an EKG done.  All are normal.  Tomorrow I have a final test.  The EEG.  For this test, they want me tired.  As in, "stay up until 1 and get up at 5" kind of tired.  I have a plan, but I'm not sure I'll make it all the way until 1 because it's only been a couple of days now that I haven't had to nap during the day....

Today the insurance company for Fareway called to make sure I wasn't going to sue them.  The rep was able to give us the name and number of the nurse who helped me during the seizure because we really had no answers to what happened the whole time.  Apparently a textbook seizure was all.  She said she was going to get milk and looked over and I was already on the floor.  She said a lady instantly put her hands on me and started speaking in tongues for Jesus to come down to me.  The nurse shooed her away, put me on my side and put her coat under my head.  She said one of the cashiers who was like 17 was trying to figure out who to call so the nurse said to look at my driver's license, and find someone on the phone with the same last name.  :)  She said she kind of took over the situation.  I am extremely grateful for that!  In one of my waterworks sessions, I told Chris I felt badly because I was sure I had ruined some people's night who would've witnessed my seizure (I know if I had, it would bother me and I'd be worried about that person) but Chris assured me that people were not affected.  They were grabbing yogurt around the gurney and I was just more of an inconvenience.  I mentioned Chris telling me this when I was talking to the nurse and she said she was seriously embarrassed by how people were indifferent to anyone needing any help.  I like to think that I would not be one of those indifferent people despite what time of year it is and how busy I think I am.  I think my friend Jenni is right ~ she said my angels were watching out for me that night! 

So my lessons learned:
1.  Have your ICE contact set up in your phone.  They called Taite who had to call Chris to come to Fareway that night.
2.  Stress can do strange things to your body, even if you think you are handling it.  Don't stress over the small stuff.  The boys really weren't upset that certain gifts weren't here by Christmas morning and everything was fine. 
3.  Hug those you love and tell them "I love you" more.  No, you are not doing that enough already.