Adapting to Life's Changes
Back in January of this year I, for some reason unknown to me at the time, momentarily lost touch with reality and fell backwards onto the ground from an extension ladder I was using to change out a bulb in an outdoor security light. Other than getting the wind knocked out of me, I was unharmed.
In mid-March, I was driving home during a rainstorm on a Wednesday night after church choir practice, and turned into what I thought was my driveway. In fact, I turned 30 feet before ever reaching the actual driveway and drove the car into a rain-soaked ditch and into a muddy bank.
After mulling over these two events and considering how many times during the past few months I have suddenly "gone blank" during the middle of a conversation with another person, I came to the conclusion that something was not right with my health.
During a visit to my VAMC primary care physician on Friday, April 22, 2016, I shared my concerns with the doctor. Within 15 minutes she had escorted me to the emergency room and, after an exhaustive battery of tests and an MRI of the head, it was determined that I've been having seizures which are being caused by the scar tissue on my brain which has formed as a result of the 2011 and 2014 strokes I've suffered.
I have been placed on anti-seizure medications which I take twice daily. My driving privileges have been set aside for the next six months until the doctors can determine how the medication is working and how I am able to adapt to the side effects of the drug which, so far, have side effects of dizziness, drowsiness, and depression.
For those of you who believe in the power of intercessory prayer to God, I ask for your prayers to help me adjust to this new wrinkle in the fabric of my life.