My sister was landing around 1pm on Sunday and Will and I are still in the hospital hoping to get out as soon as possible. My sister takes a taxi from the airport and comes straight to U of W Medical Center. It is her first time seeing me. She is so no-nonsense it is great. No one would be surprised to learn she is a Judge. She does not like to see me in any way shape or form anything but happy. It makes her uncomfortable. She just says, “Ok, well, this is not what we expected. I mean this isn’t what they said would happen right?”. Yes. Was not told of any seizure warnings.
Dr. Patel called me in the morning at 8am profusely apologizing he had not seen my text. His wife was working that day and he was on his day off and watching his sweet perfect little baby. He said he would happily come to the hospital and wished somehow he had seen the text and came last evening. I told him I was fine and there was no way I was going to have this man who deserved a month off little less a day, come in with his vulnerable 8 month old baby. Hospitals are dangerous for babies. I told him all was fine, enjoy the day, and please, have someone release me! I need to go home and see my babies!
He laughed and said he would send in the order.
I got home and my kids were not told what happened – yet. I was given a prescription for Krepa, which is this anti-seizure med I was now officially going to have to be on for the next six months.
Oh…and I am no longer allowed to drive. I mean really, what mom with an 8 year old and a 10 year old needs to drive? It’s so not a big deal. School, soccer, grocery store, life. My life would no longer be my own. AND to make matters worse, I wasn’t allowed to be alone for a while. The fear of another seizure while my brain was still so swollen was real and so if I went to take a nap, a friend or Will or a family member would have to be right there with me. No help if my “Bethsitter” is downstairs and I am upstairs and have a seizure. So Julie, Caren, Martha, Lee, Maureen…were all my napping mates for a while. Now I LOVE my friends but it is totally weird/awkward to try to take a nap and have your friend lying next to you – and worrying the entire time you make any sound or movement that perhaps you are having a seizure. Alas, I wasn’t very good at napping. But we did have some really good laughs.
You know how James Corden does his Carpool Karaoke? I only wish I had documented my Naptime Companions! The theme song would be “Someone to watch over me” from one of my favorite movies ever – Mr. Holland’s Opus. It was completely silly and ineffective – naps eluded me… and thank goodness, ended up being entirely not necessary (no seizure)! But it was sweet and wonderful and just all sorts of lovely.
Next up, an Uber driver. Thankfully, with lots of uber friends…that one wasn’t going to be hard to come by. It would be my surrendering to others that would be the challenge.
Why Not Me 