My 13 year old sister, Cassidy, has epilepsy.
She's had it for a few years.
Her first seizure was while she was in class about 2.5-3yrs ago.
2-3 weeks ago she had another..
My other sister Courtney woke up to the sound of her collapsing on the bathroom floor and thrashing around on the ground.
I don't live with my parents, but I have been visiting them in Santa Cruz for the last week and a half
I had never seen Cassidy have a seizure, until this morning...
It was about 7-7:30am, Cassidy was getting ready for school in the bathroom.
Courtney and I were sleeping in Courtney's room..
and there was this "thud" sound that I had kind of subconsciously heard,
and there was this "thud" sound that I had kind of subconsciously heard,
and I thought it had been the cats playing.
Courtney shot out of bed screaming at the top of her lungs.
It was dark in our room, and I didn't have my glasses or contacts on.. so I could hardly see.
In one solid motion Courtney is out of bed and running out of the bedroom door.
I was absolutely terrified at this point because I didn't know why she was screaming.
At first I thought maybe she was having a bad dream, or that she had somehow been hurt, my mind was racing, thinking a 1000 horrible things.
and then I heard this like growling/inhale/breathing sound
and then I heard this like growling/inhale/breathing sound
(the sound I've been told that Cassidy makes before the seizure starts)
This all happened within a matter of seconds.
Courtney knows all these sounds because she had heard Cassidy's seizure a couple weeks before.
Courtney is screaming "mom! seizure!mom! seizure!" repeatedly, at the top of her lungs..
Courtney is screaming "mom! seizure!mom! seizure!" repeatedly, at the top of her lungs..
As soon as I understood what was going on I was out of bed and running to find Cassidy
the bathroom door was shut and the light was off...which was unusual
we go in and Cassidy was on her back on the tile floor.
her eyes were open, dilated and looking through us like we didn't exist.
her teeth were clenched together and her jaws were locked shut
her eyes were open, dilated and looking through us like we didn't exist.
her teeth were clenched together and her jaws were locked shut
Her mouth was foaming a little and she was spitting/drooling blood because she had clenched on the side of her tongue.
I rolled her onto her side so that she wouldn't choke on her tongue (which is very possible to do while having a seizure)
She was making what almost sounded like dry-heaving noises.
she wasn't wildly convulsing..(which she had done the last time)..
but all her muscles kept clenching and she was shaking.
and she was breathing really heavily and shallowly..
it lasted for like 2-3 min probably.
and then she slowly came out of it..
and had no idea what had happened.
she wasn't wildly convulsing..(which she had done the last time)..
but all her muscles kept clenching and she was shaking.
and she was breathing really heavily and shallowly..
it lasted for like 2-3 min probably.
and then she slowly came out of it..
and had no idea what had happened.
She just knows she woke up on the floor.
parametics came, took her vitals and said she was ok, and that they didn't have to take her to the hospital unless we wanted her to go.
it was so scary.
I've never been there when she's had one.
and there's literally nothing you can do to stop it.
instinctively I was trying to like call her name- like I could wake her from it or something.
parametics came, took her vitals and said she was ok, and that they didn't have to take her to the hospital unless we wanted her to go.
it was so scary.
I've never been there when she's had one.
and there's literally nothing you can do to stop it.
instinctively I was trying to like call her name- like I could wake her from it or something.
but you can't.
her brain is like shut off and she doesn't respond to anything.
her brain is like shut off and she doesn't respond to anything.
We are so lucky that she didn't hit her head on anything
she was right next to the toilet and the door and could have easily hit the toilet or the door handle when she fell.
and thankfully Courtney heard her, because otherwise we would have all slept through it.
Especially since the girls' rooms are downstairs and my parents room is upstairs.
She had been recently switched a few months ago to a different epilepsy medicine at a lower dose and it is just not strong enough anymore.
She's going to see another neurologist tomorrow, and hopefully they will put her back on the stronger medication
poor baby sissy.
1 comments:
Wow, I'm so sorry this happened!! I had a co-worker go through a seizure at work while we were all singing Happy Birthday and cutting cake for another co-worker and it was so scary!! I felt so helpless and it stuck with me for a few days afterwards! It def. made me feel like I should have helped in some way or should have known her symptoms better to prevent it, but you can't.
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