Communication With Children on Health Issues.

     So my previous post on communication with children was setting the stage for talking to children about their health conditions. Most of the time we do a good job of communicating with our children. Sometimes we could do better. When it comes to health issues it is crucial that we get it right.

     My story is this.   It happened a long time ago...in the late forties. The world was a different place. When I was seven or eight years old I began having "spells" as my mother called them. I was taken in to the old country doctor and he diagnosed my condition as epilepsy. I'm not sure if he explained to my mother what the condition was . I'm not sure if my mother understood what was going on. I certainly didn't understand and had many misconceptions that frightened me. I thought I had something that I would die from! My mother was warned to watch that I didn't swallow my tongue. I thought the condition I had related to my heart and even little kids knew that heart attacks kill people. I also sensed that there was a great stigma related to this condition. People had strange ideas about it and thought those who had epilepsy were somewhat deranged. This adds to a kid's anxiety.

    I was given medication. I was given responsibility for taking the medication. Often I didn't take the medication so had more seizures. 

    So my example illustrates what I have to say. It is extremely important that we explain to children what medical condition they have. Children understand much more than we give them credit for. Sometimes the child's anxiety and loneliness is worse than the condition itself. Yet, people still do not take the time to fully explain conditions to children.

    Fortunately I had what is known as juvenile epilepsy and when I hit puberty the epilepsy stopped. 

   Now three years ago I was diagnosed with seizures again! Of course, I thought the diagnosis was wrong because after all I had experience with seizures and these seizures were not remotely the same as what I had as a child. So I came home and immediately went on the Internet and found that my specialist was right. 

    It's now known that in many situations a seniors forgetfulness and confusion is caused by senior epilepsy.

   So maybe communication has to be carefully done with older people too or at least with this elderly person.

   I am doing well. I do not have any seizures. I take my medication but the medication has side effects. It bothers my balance.

Did You Ever Fall into Your Compost Bin?

    Well, I unfortunately fell into my compost bin a few days ago.
    
    Now before you can say, "What an idiot!" I can explain. Before you say, "Well, he'd make good compost!"  I have a reason. So I've covered all the bases for the "smart mouths."


    I was preparing a fence for painting the other day. The compost bin is close to the fence so there was not much room to maneuver. I was backing up and some rotten wood under my foot squashed and the next thing I knew I was falling backwards and very lucky for me I landed squarely in the compost. Now at first I thought , "Good , nobody saw me!" Then I thought , "How am I going to get out of this place?"  My feet were hanging over the side of the bin. I was in the bin. How was I going to get my feet under me? Well, I did get out in a few seconds.


    Now for the explaining. In a previous post I told how that I had been diagnosed with seizures. These are not the seizures with uncontrollable shaking. For seniors some of the being confused and not responding correctly  is due to seizures. There is a part of your brain where the activity is more rapid than normal. Now these seizures aren't a problem for me but the neurologist insisted I go on medication and I'm not going to argue with her. She says whether I have a driver's license or not. The biggest problem is the medication. They give the same medication for seizures as they do for schizophrenics and bipolar disorder. It doesn't make you feel very good. I have problems with balance on the stuff and that's why a fall. It also slows down your reaction time . So by the time you get your feet in gear to prevent falling into the compost bin, you're in the bin!


     However, I will take the medication if it prevents me from becoming confused or worse. I also know that I can't just stop taking it. There is a protocol for going off the medication.


    So there's my explanation. There's my reason. I also smelled like compost for the rest of the day. So my advice? Try really hard to stay out of the compost bin.

The Doctor Has Spoken: But Was I Listening?

        A few days ago I posted about getting the results of an EEG. I had posted before about having to go all night without sleep in preparation for the EEG.

        On Sept. 7 the neurologist gave me the results. She told me that there was an indication in one part of the brain of faster wavelengths. This she said would indicate an area prone to seizures and that the incident I experienced June 19th was probably a seizure.

       If you read the post "The Doctor Has Spoken" you will see that I had a very healthy dose of denial. I used one term "iffy" for the diagnosis. I also said that I had seizures as a youngster and what I had June 19th was not a seizure. I was very critical of the neurologist's diagnosis. The neurologist prescribed medication to help prevent seizures. I wasn't comfortable taking this medication but I respected her professional opinion and went along with the prescription.

      Since that time my view has changed. The first medication prescribed did not agree with me at all. I had poor balance, extreme drowsiness, tics in my hands and feet and some loss of appetite. A different prescription was given. I waited four of five days for me to recover from the first prescription, but really I was delaying facing up to the issue. Then I googled seniors and epilepsy. I wasn't expecting to find anything. I was surprised. I found many excellent sites. What I gathered is that in the last ten years researchers have discovered that many of the symptoms shown by seniors are really the results of seizures. So bouts of confusion and memory loss, which is  common in some seniors behavior, is the result of seizures. They have tested and found areas of the brain with increased rate of activity. They put the two things together and come up with the premise that many seniors are having seizures.

      Once I read that research shows evidence of seniors with seizures I sat back and started to accept the truth of my diagnosis. It then made sense for me and why I was taking medication for seizures.It is to  prevent seizures and to allow me to live a normal quality of life. I can carry on with all the activities I normally take part in. Yesterday I ice skated and had no problems whatsoever.

      So it took a while. I had heard  the neurologist but I had refused to really accept what she was telling me. I see the neurologist in October again so I will admit that I had a healthy dose of denial but  since that time I have seen the light.