And now for something totally different

For the people who read my weekly column, you know that I tend to share every minor detail of my life. This week is no different, but I’ll warn you now that there is not as much humor in this story as there usually is.

Early Saturday morning, while still sleeping, I had a seizure that lasted about ten minutes. Though I don’t remember the episode, I’ll never forget when I gained consciousness and saw the concerned look on my husband’s face. He was telling me crazy stuff about calling an ambulance and asking me what day it was.

My son had a seizure when he was four years old, so I had an idea what had happened to me, including the cloudy haze my mind was struggling to overcome. I’ve always been pretty healthy despite all of my hard work packing on extra pounds, you know, for a caloric reserve in case Florida gets hit with some kind of freak blizzard.

It didn’t matter how uncooperative my brain was acting, I knew for certain that, though the EMT personnel were top notch, I was not going to set foot in their ambulance so I could later receive a bill reflecting the most high-cost fare in town just to go a mere five miles.

My husband loaded the kids and me into the family car and drove us to Florida Hospital where I received excellent care that began in the Emergency Department and ended in a room on the 2^nd floor where my fellow students and I attend our clinical rotations.

Being a nursing student-turned-patient was a surreal experience. I was attended to by several nurses who were grads of the very program at SFCC that I am currently enrolled.

The bad news came when I met with the neurologist. I had my “Medical-Surgical Nursing” text book from home (I wasn’t going to let a seizure keep me from studying) and had already researched the topic to discover that, since June, I have been having what are called “focal seizures.” These minute-long brain hiccups always involved a phantom smell followed by a wave of nausea.

The neurologist confirmed what I had read and informed me that the big seizure that morning was one my brain couldn’t stop.

My life is taking a slightly altered course for a while in that I will be on anti-seizure medication, maybe for the rest of my life, and I cannot drive for six months! When he said I couldn’t drive was when I started crying like a baby. For some reason, this seemed worse than having to take drugs to survive.

During my three day stay at the hospital, I received several phone calls and visitors wishing me the best. One of my teachers, Mrs. Greenwald, said that many of my classmates were already volunteering to drive me wherever I needed to go and actually started a sign-up list so that “Driving Miss Damara” could be shared amongst them.

I cannot express how my heart swelled to know how much people really care about me. Sometimes, life feels a bit lonely and then something like this happens to put it all back into perspective.

My daughter drew me lots of pictures and both the children made sure to snuggle with me a little extra. My husband is my hero and I thank God for him and all the other wonderful people in my life. I don’t think I’ll ever allow myself to feel lonely or ungrateful again.