Chalk Talk Back to the Basics with Father Joseph C. Martin

Alright here is my story. I am 30 years old and have had 2 seizures in my entire life. The first one came back in 2007 while I was hospitalized for 23 straight days with pancreatitis. The pancreatites was a direct result of consuming too much alcohol over a period of time. I have now been alcohol free for 34 months. To treat pancreatitis you are denied any food or water until the right blood levels are achieved. The only form of nutrition you get is through an IV. During my stay (on my 3rd day in) I had a seizure. It was never reported to the DMV because the Doctors felt it was from withdrawal of alcohol and or an allergic reaction to a medication give via IV. Immediately after given the medication, I turned bright red, got the worst headache of my entire life, my hands were shaky like I had just had an entire pot of coffee. In either event, so many tests were ordered. Blood draws, Spinal Tap, MRI, Cat Scan and an EEG. The EEG was given 2 days after the seizure (which I have read is the absolute wrong time to give it). The EEG came back with a slight abnormality, but because everything else was perfect and there is no family history and it was the first one I ever had, the EEG wasn’t compelling enough. I was given tegretol to take 2 times a day for 6 months. After 6 months of the tegretol, I was told I could stop taking it and I did stop. I had no seizures for while on the medication and for a period of 28 months after, never loosing my license either since it wasn’t reported.

Apparently seizures can be provoked by stress, poor eating habits and a million other things. I had this seizure while driving, lost control of the vehicle and hit a house. It didn’t do much damage at all and I guess that’s besides the point. I had so much stress that day and my seizure happened right after opening some mail that said I had to testify against a Doctor who had (lets just say he was a male and was at some part of my body for a while). The saying when it rains it pours was never so true then it was that day 10 weeks ago. I went to the Doctor the morning after it. This one was extremely different then the one 34 months ago, I remembered things right away, I didn’t bite my tongue, my body wasn’t shaking and a I had no muscle fatigue.

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