I had been thinking I needed to follow up on the last post--we ultimately do have to find another service provider--as well as write about Anthony continuing to defy all attempts to stop his urinating problems, but today we experienced something new: he had a seizure.
As today was a holiday, I was off work. And as fate would have it, I did not sleep well last night, so I had not yet gone outside to work in the garden as I had planned. My wife and younger son were out, so only my daughter was with me when Anthony began making a commotion in his bedroom indicating something was seriously wrong. My daughter's own initial reaction was that she was hearing an earthquake, but she quickly realized it was only in Anthony's room. I rushed in to find him convulsing on the floor with a heavier chair on top of him, and called my daughter in to help me get the chair off him. In the same small area, he has a table where he sits to work on puzzles; we moved that away as well and tried to sit him up as he was beginning to turn blue. I realized the gravity of the situation, and both my daughter and I had brief thoughts that the unthinkable might be happening before our eyes. Thankfully, I did manage to get him up and breathing again. But Anthony is heavy, and trying to lift a limp body of that size is not an easy task.
As today was a holiday, I was off work. And as fate would have it, I did not sleep well last night, so I had not yet gone outside to work in the garden as I had planned. My wife and younger son were out, so only my daughter was with me when Anthony began making a commotion in his bedroom indicating something was seriously wrong. My daughter's own initial reaction was that she was hearing an earthquake, but she quickly realized it was only in Anthony's room. I rushed in to find him convulsing on the floor with a heavier chair on top of him, and called my daughter in to help me get the chair off him. In the same small area, he has a table where he sits to work on puzzles; we moved that away as well and tried to sit him up as he was beginning to turn blue. I realized the gravity of the situation, and both my daughter and I had brief thoughts that the unthinkable might be happening before our eyes. Thankfully, I did manage to get him up and breathing again. But Anthony is heavy, and trying to lift a limp body of that size is not an easy task.
My daughter ran to the computer to search on what to do when someone is having a seizure, and told me to turn him on his side and cushion his head. We did that, but he was on the floor and it didn't look very comfortable, in addition to the fact that he was also lying on scattered puzzle pieces, so I tried to lift him without success to get him on his bed. My daughter said a person who has just had a seizure will also be very groggy, and that was indeed the case with Anthony, but we did manage to get him to climb onto his bed, after which he rested nicely for about three hours.
Later, after some discussion and considering advice from others, my wife and I took Anthony to an urgent care section of the hospital, where they determined it would be best to have him go to the emergency room to run some tests. The doctor said the results showed nothing out of the ordinary and, more importantly, told us that of those who ever experience a seizure in their lifetimes, 80% will never experience another.
On a personal note, hearing that figure was a tremendous relief to me. For a few hours today, I was revisiting the struggles I had years ago to separate lack of control with regard to Anthony's condition from other areas, including professional, of my life. I am grateful to likely not have yet more stress to combat.
We learned at the hospital, by the way, that Anthony weighs 215 pounds. We now have a renewed determination to get him to lose weight, just in case this ever happens again.
Later, after some discussion and considering advice from others, my wife and I took Anthony to an urgent care section of the hospital, where they determined it would be best to have him go to the emergency room to run some tests. The doctor said the results showed nothing out of the ordinary and, more importantly, told us that of those who ever experience a seizure in their lifetimes, 80% will never experience another.
On a personal note, hearing that figure was a tremendous relief to me. For a few hours today, I was revisiting the struggles I had years ago to separate lack of control with regard to Anthony's condition from other areas, including professional, of my life. I am grateful to likely not have yet more stress to combat.
We learned at the hospital, by the way, that Anthony weighs 215 pounds. We now have a renewed determination to get him to lose weight, just in case this ever happens again.
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