83 Days - Different Number, Different Goal

83 Days.

As of bedtime last night, that's how many consecutive days I have been seizure-free.  By bedtime tonight I will, hopefully, be able to add another day to the count.

I had 4 seizures last year, in 2011.  I also had 4 seizures in 2010. Going back even previous years, I've had even more seizures.

In fact, except for the period from September 2007 - October 2008, I have had at least one grand mal seizure each year since 1985 (and sometimes many more than one).  Man, those 13 months of being seizure-free were awesome!  In fact, I was beginning to think that I was in the clear, seizure-wise.

What brought about that seizure in the 10th month of '08?
Great question; glad you asked!

Oddly enough, someone smashed one of my fingers in the hinges of a rebounder that I was giving to her.  To be fair to her, I know she didn't do it intentionally.  To be fair to me, I had tried to tell her to stop what she was doing at the moment to let me get my hand out of the way; but she was in a "brute force" frame of mind and didn't heed my request.  Ouch!  In fact, dizzying and piercing headache ouch, with a side of nausea thrown in for good measure (my apologies to any of y'all who are a bit squeamish).  A couple of hours later, I had a seizure.  Excessive bleeding is a seizure trigger; even internal bleeding as what I had experienced from the finger-smash.

Ah, well . . . life goes on, doesn't it?


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Since 2000, all of the seizures have been grand mal and during my waking hours; prior to that, they had all been nocturnal grand-mal seizures up until 1998, when, for a couple of years, I began having both waking and nocturnal seizures (mostly still nocturnal, though).  In fact, the very first grand mal seizure I ever experienced (1988) occurred while I was sleeping. Talk about waking up on the wrong side of the bed!

Prior to 1988, I believe that I had petit mal seizures going back at least a decade.  That is a supposition and not a hard fact, though; prior to the first grand mal seizure, I had never even heard of seizures and had never seen a doctor for what I had been experiencing (this was due to my young age and the fact that I didn't share what was going on with dad).


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One year, circa 2004 and for about a six-month time period, I had grand mal seizures every 2 weeks.

Coming back to more current time, I have had 2 seizures in 2012; one in March and one in April.


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It was also in 1988 that I had decided that I needed to take better care of body and started researching healthy ways to lose weight.  I mention this in my blog post, "Let's Eat!"  This was prior to the first grand mal seizure; and it was that very seizure that led me to begin research on how to combat seizures via what I fed my body . . . and more specifically, what I didn't  feed my body.


*~*~*~*~*
Throughout all those years and all the various information I had gathered and learned, I had never read anything regarding exercising being way to combat seizures.

On April 2nd of this year, after a year of on again / off again attempts to incorporate consistent exercise into my life, I finally "got it" and started intentionally exercising every day.

On April 19th . . . 18 days into my new lifestyle . . . I had a grand mal seizure.  Looking at my notes that I took regarding the previous days' activities, I believe there were several factors involved that brought about this seizure:  lack of sleep, inadvertently eating something containing soy and almost 4 hours of exercise in that one day,  OK, ok, I'll give y'all that - 4 hours of exercise in one day was probably a bit excessive.  But hey!  I'm still pretty pleased that I was able to do it.  Put that in your pipe and smoke it.


*~*~*~*~*
I didn't let the seizure deter me, though.  After taking the following day off (truth be known, as mandated from Tex), I began my fitness regime again on April 21st.

Sometime during the last couple of months, it occurred to me to research whether or not exercise can help combat seizures.

AND, guess what?!  It most certainly can!

It seems like a no-brainer right now; but all those years previous, it never occurred to me . . . and I never came upon any information suggesting the correlation.

But, yes!!!  Regular, daily exercise does, indeed, help keep seizures at bay (such exercise being done in  reasonable amounts and not like some crazed ironwoman who is high from adrenaline and endorphin rushes).

This is awesome, awesome news, y'all!!!


*~*~*~*~*
So, these past 83 days of being seizure-free have been very cherished.  It feels good to be able to actively participate in combating seizures; by not only paying attention to what I feed my body, but also by ensuring that I make consistent daily exercise a part of my life.

I didn't reach my fitness minutes goal for June.  My goal was 3,000 minutes; my actual minutes were 2,364.  To be honest, I had wondered if 3,000 was too much of a reach; but I went ahead and made that my goal, anyway.  But, even though I didn't make my goal, I still got in almost 40 hours of exercises (39.40, to be exact - but whose counting) . . . and I'm happy with that.

My goals for July are to add another 2,500 fitness minutes to my yearly total . . . AND, of course, to complete another month of being seizure-free.  So far, I'm on track with both.


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There are some seizure triggers that are simply out of my control; i.e., fluorescent lighting, injuries with excessive bleeding, etc.  I can't worry about the what-ifs of those triggers; I can only do my best to avoid them and then make sure I do everything possible to take care of my health . . . and then go out and live life and enjoy it!

Isn't that what each of us should do, anyway . . . take care of our health to the best of our ability and truly live our life?  I sure think so.

*~*~*~*~*
Above everything else, I give Praise to Our Lord, Jesus Christ, for HIS Covering and HIS Guidance.

Thanks for reading; y'all be blessed!
Sharmie

Seizures. Boo. Hiss. BUT! Life goes on!

Last Thursday, I told y'all about my triking to the pool and back.  And, then, as a bonus, I also created my first PEA blog (Public Education Announcement).

Oh, and speaking of which . . . let's sneak in another tip regarding how to treat cyclists, shall we?
Yes, let's.  An excellent idea, indeed.

We'll call it PEA #2:
It's probably not the coolest thing in the world to pass a cyclist, to their left; and especially while they are in the process of making a left-hand turn.  Nope; not cool at all.  Can y'all visualize it?

Let's all say it together.

Ready?
Set.
Go.

Doodle Head.
;/-

This very scenario happened to me this morning.   My guess is that it was a parent running late in getting their child to school on time.  I was turning left - in the middle of a neighborhood, mind you.  I had actually started making the turn, when I heard a car come roaring up behind me, tap its horn and then proceed to pass me to the left (and at a rather speedy rate, I might add) . . . all so he / she could make the same left-hand turn I was making and do it before I did.  This almost caused a wreck with that car, another car and me.  The other car had arrived at the stop sign and was turning right, onto the road from which the demon doodle-head car and I were both turning left.

At least Speedy Gonzalez lightly tapped their horn, versus blaring it.  I guess that should count for something, right?  I'm going to run over you; but I don't want to scare you while I'm doing it, so I'm not going to lay on my horn.

But.  Alas.  I digress.
But, please do file this PEA away . . . and share it with your friends, family, co-workers and everyone you see today.

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Back to the topic of this particular post.  Last Thursday, about an hour after I told y'all about my adventures in triking, I had a stupid grand mal seizure.  For those of y'all who don't know me, the first seizure I had was back in 1987.  It's been a long, weird journey; one of which I won't go into right now.

I will mention two very important things about this seizure history:
(1) They're not "my" seizures.  They're "the" seizures.  I never invited them into my life, and I have no intention of their staying around.  They're not welcomed, and I do not claim them; not even on an infinitesimal level.

When speaking to me about seizures that I have had, please do not refer to them as "your seizures."  They're not mine.  You may refer to them as "the seizures".  Thank you ever so much.  Truly.  (And, there's not many things that I'm adamant about; but this is one of them.  Please be prepared to be gently corrected if you ever forget and use the phrase, "your seizures").

(2) I'm also just as adamant regarding anti-seizure meds.  I am, in fact, anti anti-seizure pharms.  I simply won't take them.  I won't even consider it.  Over the years, I have tried 12 different prescriptions in relation to seizures.  None of the meds controlled the seizures, and all of them had very serious side effects that I was and am not willing to experience.  The final straw was a near fatal side effect.  Nope.  Not going to take any anti-seizure pills or other pharmaceutical concoctions.  (So please do not ask me to try, suggest I do so or tell me about the newest anti-seizure pharm on the market).

I do, however do my own research and I also avoid various seizure triggers (including certain foods and also non-edible things; i.e., fluorescent lighting being one of the non-edibles).

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As much as it hurts my pride to contemplate that this most recent seizure was probably self-induced, I really think it was.  I believe that given the timing of the seizure in regards to my triking expedition the day before - and given that it had been a while since I had been so, uhm, energetic - and given the lack of sleep from the night before due to my muscles spazzing all night - I probably am responsible for last week's seizures.  Lack of sleep, btw, is, in and of itself, a seizure trigger.

Fiddle.

It took me a couple of days to recover; but then it usually does.  The day after a seizure is usually the hardest.  My muscles are so sore that I do not move very well at all.  That, plus I'm pretty exhausted from the seizing.  Tex put the kibosh on our walking the puppy girls last Friday . . . probably because I had morphed into Neanderthal Woman and was not walking upright.

And truthfully, I was bummed about that because it broke my activity streak.  On April 2nd, I had started a streak that involved doing at least 20 minutes of physical activity daily.  Up till last Wednesday, I was averaging 35.12 minutes each day, for 17 consecutive days.  While I did factor in walking the puppy girls from last Wednesday, I intentionally didn't factor in the 2.98 hours of triking and swimming from last Wednesday, given that it was the first time doing that in a while (triking to the pool), it would have skewed the average.

And we can't have skewy averages, now, can we?


So, now, my current fitness streak is at 7 consecutive days (with an average of 60.71 minutes per day; still not factoring in last Wednesday's trike & pool session).

Tex says that I should include the other 17 days in my count because the seizure (and its after-effects) was out-of-my control.  He's a gracious man who finds myriad ways to support and encourage me!

I guess in the end, his logic is correct.
But, it is a bit of a bummer that seizures control so many aspects of my life.

*~*~*~*~*
This too shall pass, though!

There are so many awesome blessings that Our Lord has given to me.  I choose to focus on what I do have and am able to do, versus what I don't have and am unable to do.

I will praise You, O Lord, with my whole heart; I will show forth (recount and tell aloud) all Your marvelous works and wonderful deeds!  I will rejoice in You and be in high spirits; I will sing praise to Your Name, O Most High!
(Psalm 9:1-2; Amplified version)

Remember to look for the good in your life!

Thanks for reading; y'all be blessed,
Sharmie