Grand Mal during church
Well, here we
go. I first off want to thank anyone (family or friends) that are taking the
time to keep up with Breck's epilepsy. Although I am writing the latest
happenings, please know that we are all fine and seem to be keeping a
"chin up" as we go along.
Yesterday,
Sunday April 22nd, 2012 Breck had a Grand Mal seizure during Sunday School at
church (between 2 and 2:30pm). Her Dad and I had a feeling earlier that
something was not quite right, but for anyone else it would have just been
signs of a young woman who was cranky or even categorized as "PMS".
So neither John or I said anything to each other, just mentally decided we
would keep an eye out. Apparently we were correct, but not precise!
Here is what
happened as best I can piece together from her teacher Brother Brock Pettyjohn
and myself interacting with her.
Brock said
there was no warning signals that he could see. Breck had been participating in
class and had just read a scripture and even raised her hand to answer a
question. He had allowed another student to answer and before they finished he
noticed Ariel holding Breck. Her neck was stretched back and her body stiff and
convulsing. Ariel confirmed that she was having a seizure. They then carefully
put Breck on the floor where the students helped to hold and keep her heels and
elbow from hitting the floor. McKayla left immediately to get me from class
where I gathered my purse that had her emergency meds. It was amazing to watch
as Brother Rich Moores noticed my expression and immediately got up from class
to come help. He also got Brother Chris Wood's attention and they both followed
me out of the room. I expressed my desire for them to give her a blessing as
John was at home that day. As I entered the stage (where the class was) I saw
Breck laying on the floor flat on her back. She had stopped convulsing but was
still seizing. She was foaming at the mouth with gurgling sounds as she had a
lot of saliva draining. I also noticed blood oozing out of her mouth. My first
thought was "Oh no... that is new... where is that coming from and what is
causing it". I appreciated Brother Wood's reassuring words "She
probably bit her tongue Sean A'lee". He is very experienced with seizures
as he has a brother who has epilepsy too. Sure enough I caught a glimps of her
tongue and could see a bad bruise where she had bit down on the tip of her
tongue. Brother Wood immediately held her head and I got close to her ear to
whisper that everything was going to be ok and that I was there. She seemed to
"relax" but was not coming out of the seizure. I then quickly
retrieved her meds and slipped the Clonazepam .5 mg inside her bottom lip. I
was unable to open her mouth as it was clamped tight so I couldn't get it under
her tongue. But the good news is that this way she didn't bite me. After that
Brother Wood and Brother Moores administered a Priesthood Blessing. We then
asked someone to bring some paper towels to clean her off and waited for her to
come out of the seizure. It seemed to take forever. I came very close to taking
her to the hospital as she kept making repeated jerky motions trying to sit up
or pull her dress down. Chris and I kept reassuring her that she was covered
and the she just needed to lay still. She didn't seem to understand and her
eyes still had a glossy look. Brother Pettyjohn then took the class members to
another room so that when she did wake up there wouldn't be so many people
around her. She continued to seem to go between being asleep and awake. Each
time she opened her eyes we would reassure her that she was ok and then ask her
if she knew where she was or who I was. Bishop Randy Pickrel then entered the
room at some point and we discussed whether I should take her home, to the
hospital or to one of their homes to let her sleep it off. It was a hard
decision and I just wished she would give some sign of coming out of it. After
about 20 minutes (I think... timing is hard to put together), she actually
opened her eyes and could barely say my name. She still couldn't say where she
was but I knew there was improvement. She then sat up and tried putting on her
shoes. We knew she could barely walk and so I told her "no shoes" and
took them from her. She then took some of the paper towel and tried to put that
on her foot like a shoe. I then knew she wasn't quite out of the seizure. She
laid back down for a few more minutes until she opened her eyes again, this
time with tears - I asked her if she knew where she was, she said "the
church?". I said yes and asked her if she was embarrassed. She nodded yes
as she cried. Whew... I knew she was with me again. So we helped her to the van
and Chris drove us home. Rich later brought Izaak home and took Chris back to
the church. By the time we arrived home about 3:30 I would guess, Breck could
walk pretty well, was fully aware and making sense. She expressed pressure and
slight headache on the top right side of her skull. She was however very sleepy
and went straight to bed where she slept until 6:30. When she awoke she still
noticed the pressure in her head. She was up for just a couple of hours, ate
and then went back to bed and slept until 9am or so with no other seizures that
I am aware of.
Today Monday
April 23rd she seemed just super slow and groggy for most of the day. She took
a nap around 1pm and about 5:30 seemed to have better color and be back to her
normal self.
As we visited
today about what happened I was again so proud of her attitude. Yes, she is
very embarrassed to know this happened in front of her peers, but more than
that she felt complete gratitude for the help and protection they gave her. She
wants to thank them and let them know that even tho she may have looked like
she was in great pain that in reality she remembers nothing past raising her
hand until she woke up with Brother Wood and myself around her. She said she
knows there were a couple of other people but the memory is still hazy. We both
know that all trials can be a blessing and way of helping others. Maybe thru
this everyone can gain a little experience and be more prepared in the future.
We never know when we might need to help someone else.
Again, thanks
for reading. Please know we are fine. We feel loved and protected. We know
answers will come as we are ready and that all things can be for our good.
Smiles and
faith
Sean A'lee
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