Quote:
Originally Posted by Hog's Gone Fishin
Just got a minute here . Finally got to visit with a doctor I could hardly understand.(Are there any American doctors anymore ?) They say she is having a Focal seizure which means its located in one hemisphere. In my time with her now it seems to be continuous rather than intermittent. She speaks jibberish fluently and I have a hard time deciphering what she's trying to tell me. She's also losing her awareness slowly.
I would definitely say she is worse today than she was yesterday.
They are moving her to the Hospital next door because its"IN MY NETWORK"
which I'm told is a much better hospital and also where my daughter was born.
Next step is an MRI. Which should have been done 3 days ago but well I guess they are busy, even though 75 % of the beds are empty. They said it will get done tonight or tomorrow. Kinda like whenever they get around to it.
In my internet research the focal seizure can manifest to other parts of the brain, I don't know if it can be stopped or not ???
I told the doctor that after giving thought she came out of surgery and said she had no desire or craving for a cig. She's had other surgerys (2) and felt the need for a cig immediately afterward.
so does that mean there's a possibility the anasthesia was too strong and caused brain damage. He said the stress from surgery can trigger seizures.
I don't know, not looking for a law suit by any means but just would like to know why!! If you know the cause it should make it easier to fix.
High school graduation for my daughter is tomorrow . I've made 9 trips to amarillo (an hour away) in 3 days trying to stay with her and keep my daughter on schedule at school which is all screwed up this last week.
Uggh
Thank you all again for your thoughts and prayers. I was able to tell my wife she had over a hundred prayers sent her way from people all over the world through the power of CP. she managed a smile.
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HF:
First, don't take this as prescriptive medical advice, but some things that you can potentially look into further or ask your wife's providers about.
To answer some of your questions:
1) Yes, an MRI be done to rule out other potential causes of the seizure, given the later onset in life
2) Infection can cause seizures, and an elevated white count is a hallmark sign of infection, especially with a strangulated hernia and a bowel obstruction
3) When someone is in surgery their vitals are closely and constantly monitored. You can ask to speak to the anesthesiologist to see if any of her stats dropped during surgery, and if so, for how long.
4) A cerebrovascular accident can also cause a seizure. Given your wife's age and past smoking history, she would be at a higher risk for a stroke or what some people call mini-strokes. The proper term is a transient ischemic attack, or TIA. There are several other risk factors for CVAs, including high cholesterol levels and a history of diabetes.
5) Low blood glucose (or excessively high) can cause seizures. In hospital, practitioners are more worried about low glucose levels an will attempt to correct blood sugars quickly once they are below ~70.
6) There are several types of focal seizures: focal seizures with dyscognitive features (where they seem alert, but are speaking gibberish), focal seizures without dyscognitive features (where patients may notice a funny taste, tingling, or an aura), and focal seizures that progress to a full, bilateral seizure that affects both sides of the brain. From your description of her presentation, it is more likely (although by no means certain) that she is experiencing focal seizures with dyscognitive features that are progressing to full bilateral seizures (as you described in the OP). However, I would still press hard for the MRI results to see if there are any structural abnormalities in the brain.
7) Have they told you what medications they are using to treat her seizures?
I'm very sorry that you have to deal with this. Epilepsy is a bitch.