I suppose it's appropriate that the first post-worthy happening in Anthony's life in over a year would be regarding another seizure. But those who have read this blog will know that can't be a good thing, since I don't write unless there is a new or different aspect to it.
That last night's seizure was the seventh in 13 months is, of itself, certainly concerning because "normal" used to be only about once per year. And, while we think we know the triggers for some of the seizures in the last year, others were without discernible cause. Either way, Anthony has clearly become far more sensitive than he used to be.
Based on the incident detailed in the previous post from October 2020, I have been very careful to limit Anthony's time in the shower to just that required to wash, rinse, and dry him; we even bought a high-quality foil shaver to uncouple that activity. Yet, as I was finishing drying him off last night and moments away from having him step out of the tub, I saw that he was starting to gaze blankly away from me. That quickly put me on notice, but it was mere seconds later when I recognized a seizure about to start, which it did just as I was yelling out to alert my family so they could help.
Since I had to get him down quickly, the only direction I could do so was toward me, near the faucet. We had to pull one of his legs up to keep it from hitting the end of the tub; his big toe ended up bleeding. He does much better stretched out, but that wasn't possible in the tub. Thankfully, the seizure did not last very long, but he was still in something of a sitting position with his legs underneath and to the side. We tried mightily to lift him out of the tub, but it was impossible to get enough leverage based on his position and his utter lack of consciousness. We got a large pillow to place over the edge of the tub on which he was able to somewhat rest his head. We also got another pillow to place between him and the end of the tub to keep him from falling into the faucet. He was so clearly uncomfortable that, despite our inability to rouse him, he did briefly adjust himself a couple of times autonomically. We covered him with multiple towels to keep him warm and waited for him to awaken--thankfully, that took less than 30 minutes--so that we could get him to the toilet, and then to bed.
As we considered what we needed to do for him going forward, I first said that I would bathe rather than shower with him despite the time it would add to what is already a significant amount allotted each night. Except for having him stand briefly to rinse him, that would allow him to be lying in the tub away from the faucet in the event of another occurrence. But then my daughter reminded me that he has never had seizures in the morning, so she volunteered to bathe him every morning going forward. It's not something I want her to have to do--my wife can't do it either because of her job--but, for Anthony's sake, it's probably what is necessary. We now just hope that the timing of seizures remains confined to later in the day.
