I am turning to my friends today in a time of NEED-- Please forgive me
if I ramble or get sappy.. Today has been a HARD day and I am sure it's
NOT over.

Last night a little after 10 pm Kyrra ( our grown daughter) said she
was feeling strangely.. we now know that her symptoms were signals of
an impending episode.

Around 11:30 or so she decided to try to go to bed and get some rest...
perhaps she'd feel better in the morning. a few minutes later I heard
a sound that will remain in my nightmares forever.. a thud of a body
hitting the floor.. I rushed to check on her and found her in a full
grand Mal Seizure.. No Known Reason-- No drugs ( she was with me all
day), no weird foods, no stings , bites , nothing.. just my precious
daughter turning blue/grey, teeth clenched, eyes rolled back in her
head and her body palsying uncontrollably for the longest 10 minutes
or so of my life..

I raced to call 911 and returned cordless phone in hand to her side..
tried to comfort myself and her, although I knew she wasn't conscious
of her world at that point--

The Sheriff's arrive on scene in under 3 minutes.. the seizures
subsided just as the ambulance crew arrive.. she came to suddenly--
unaware of why their was a large crowd of people huddled over her in
her bedroom..

Don ( my husband) returned home from running an errand to find flashing
lights and chaos in his driveway.. She was able to answer a few simple
questions.. but did not know the year or how many quarters in $1.50..
She was very scared and so was I.

We arrived at banner Churchill Hospital at about 12 midnight.. and due
to a lack of staffing and no lack of trauma and emergency patients we
were put in Bed 7 and promptly and efficiently ignored for the next
several hours.. oh occasionally the nice EMT trainee came around to
take note of the numbers on her machine.. but little to no other
human contact.. around 5 AM a nurse told me ( again-- that the Dr was
reviewing her chart and would be in shortly.. she hoped) Apparently he
didn't actually look at her chart or consult any nursing staff.. as He
thought he was treating a 21 month old instead of a grown 21 year old
woman.. Strange how he could of missed the birthday 1987-- or her
weight 175 lbs-- seems that would have tipped me off to a bit of
confusion.."quack" Dr Potter-- I'll remember him to be sure.-- finally
the often rude and inattentive night shift staff was replaced by a
fresh and compassionate group of people-- I commend everyone on the
Morning shift for stepping up to the plate and actually showing
concern, offering me my first cup of coffee of the night, finally
providing her some pain relief ( we'd been asking for hours) she was
tested, prodded, scanned , poked and at least not ignored.. The
radiologist profusely apologized for his coworkers and they way we had
been treated.. Mind you I had kept my cool all night (for my daughters
sake). In fact, the only cussing I slipped up with was when it was
discovered the Dr that hadn't even bothered to look behind the curtain
was ordering tests and such for my daughter as if she was a 21 month
old.. to be sure I politely asked him exactly when he'd bothered to
look at her "f**king" chart.. After CAT scan, blood work -- etc.. The
new morning Dr... "Wonderful man"... Dr Aikins reported that there was
zero conclusion evidence to show a cause. and all test results will be
sent to our family Dr.. and she would have to be referred to a
neurologist for more testing.. He did. state that a first time seizure
at 21 was a very serious thing and while he could not predict if or
when it would ever happen again WE Must be aware that this was very
serious indeed.. after 26 hours awake-- we returned home this morning
and I actually got a little sleep along side my now loopy ( nice drugs)
but definitely alive daughter..

side note-- Since she is no longer a full time student she was no
longer able to be on my employer provided insurance ( great insurance )
and thankfully we had paid out of pocket premiums for a fill in
insurance.. thinking $200 a month was probably a gamble and we'd
probably not need it.. We have to meet a very large deductible-- but
thankfully I listened to my heart and had shelled out the cash for the
policy-- at least she had some coverage.. and we might eat mac & cheese
but we won't face a mountain of medical debt that we can't manage
somehow..

Friends-- Wind & Willows Ferret Rescue-- Must ( temporarily, I hope)
shut it's doors.. no new intakes and I MUST find homes for any and all
of my adoptables.. financially and realistically, I don't think I can
do otherwise.. If you can help in any way.. please offer-- I don't even
know what to ask for.. except HELP..

We have not canceled our scheduled potluck -- May17th , yet.. we just
need to see how things fall into place next week..

Prayers welcome and Blessings needed.. whatever your beliefs please
keep my daughter, Kyrra, in your thoughts..

Your friend

Lisa

[Posted in FML 5961]