Living alone

[pita300]

Last night I had a cluster of seizures that I had lost track of how many. My 20 y/o son was home but in his room. The whole thing lasted by 20 minutes after I was on the couch asleep. For the most part I was by myself as he did not hear a thing and I couldn't speak and the noises I was making wasn't loud enough for him to hear.. Now these were partial seizures and even though I was kinda aware of what was going on I'd come out of one and go right into another. This scared the you know what out of me! So for those of you who live on you own. Do you have a procedure in place if something like this would happen to you? I'm interested in you thoughts and ideas.

 

[Nakamova]

It's a good question. I live alone. My seizures are controlled right now, but in the past I've had quite a few tonic-clonics here. None of them have resulted in ER-level injury, although the last one was a doozy. I don't have any procedures in place, though I do have friends and family members I talk to fairly regularly. After that last seizure, I was talking to a friend on the phone, and she could tell by the level of confusion I was having that I had had a seizure. So she called a family member who was local, and they came over to help.

I think it's probably a good idea to get to know your neighbors, and make sure at least one of them has a spare key to your place in case of emergency. The information with your neurologist and/or your regular doctor's contact info should be fairly prominent somewhere, along with information about any medications and dosages.

 

[qtowngirl]

HUGS pita, that is SO scary. back to back partials has only happened to me once in all these years, just a few months ago. no recovery time between them, i'm sure same as you. i was so confused and so scared (really helps that mine are all fear based )
i don't live alone but am the only one home a lot (self-employed), so i get ya.
due to my massive need for independence i won't center everything i do around the seizures, but there are a few routine measures.
-carry the phone every time i switch activities (w/me in the shower, sauna, bedroom...). that way if i have a big one there is a phone within a foot when i wake up.
-if i feel a warning (not an s.p., just a 'glimpse') i will avoid those things - shower, sauna etc. b/c they are such a dangerous place to be if it happens. i also make sure my bf has his cel on him, volume turned up, in case one does hit and i wake up on the floor.

going from partial to partial like that is just screaming 'grand mal,' i can't imagine how scary that was. does your son have a phone in his room? or a cel? my first suggestion would be same as me, carry a phone everywhere, plus your cel, esp. when snoozing, so if it happens again you can reach for the phone and call him. won't matter if you can speak or not, you guys can put a plan in place re: the type of noises he will hear if you need immediate help.

 

[pita300]

I always have my cell with me and he has a cell phone with him. But there was just no way I could have even grabbed my cell let alone called him. I have to tell you this really scared the shit out of me. I spoke with a good friend this morning who lives close and we are going to work out some sort of plan. And really I should have done anything to get his attention because I probably needed ativan. Today i'm pretty much worthless. I need to work but just don't have the desire. Thanks Nak and qtown for the suggestions.

 

[qtowngirl]

onder: hmm. if you weren't 'conscious' enough to grab the phone or dial his number, i would think you were seconds away from a grand mal. LUCKY friend!!!!! the back to back must have put you in some form of unconsciousness, yet still aware of your surroundings. bad complex partials
well if the phone thing won't work how about throwing something? yeah you're prob weak but like you said, anything to get his attention. bang on the wall or table, hell throw your phone into the wall!!
arghhh, hope that doesn't happen to you again.

 

[MuayThaiFighter]

I ran into this a couple times when I was yanked off my meds right away. I might be home alone and go into one, horrible experience, id rather black out. When they picked up people would call my house at certain times. If I didn't answer then someone would usually be there. I'm so so sorry you had to deal with that. I hope your going to be ok.

 

[Autumn Breeze]

Subbing - I'm not alone for long very often, but since I don't drive and the kids go to an out of district school I am alone for a bit of time every day.

If I had a TC I'd still be on the floor/in the bed/wherever by the time they got back. But if I had another (what I *think* was a) partial, I'm not sure what I would do. I hadn't even thought about it to be honest.

I might have been capable of getting into my pocket, had I had pockets, so I could take an ativan. Or grab my phone, but I don't know if my level of confusion was enough to keep me from calling the right person. Hmm... I definitely need to talk with my neighbor. I've already told my husband that he should go get her if I am naked and have a TC. I attended her birth, so I'm comfortable with her seeing me just as vulnerable.

Thanks for the food for thought! I'll get back to you if I come up with anything worthy of sharing.

 

[pita300]

Subbing - I'm not alone for long very often, but since I don't drive and the kids go to an out of district school I am alone for a bit of time every day.

If I had a TC I'd still be on the floor/in the bed/wherever by the time they got back. But if I had another (what I *think* was a) partial, I'm not sure what I would do. I hadn't even thought about it to be honest.

I might have been capable of getting into my pocket, had I had pockets, so I could take an ativan. Or grab my phone, but I don't know if my level of confusion was enough to keep me from calling the right person. Hmm... I definitely need to talk with my neighbor. I've already told my husband that he should go get her if I am naked and have a TC. I attended her birth, so I'm comfortable with her seeing me just as vulnerable.

Thanks for the food for thought! I'll get back to you if I come up with anything worthy of sharing.

Like I was tellling qtown. I can grab my phone but would i be able to fumble around with it to call the right number. My partials are all on the right side and of course I'm right handed so thats 2 strikes against me being right handed and trying to use my left hand for something my right hand would usually do. I think my job now is to make my phone more left hand friendly so I can grab it and use it.

 

[Autumn Breeze]

Is there a way to create quick contacts? I have "favorites" which I only have a few phone numbers in. It takes up less than the screen. Of course my husband doesn't have a phone, so it's people like my best friend (who of course lives out of state) my mother, my father and now my neighbor. It would be easy to do this with my left hand, but I see what you mean by it being difficult when you're right side isn't cooperating.

 

[jayde-101]

Like I was tellling qtown. I can grab my phone but would i be able to fumble around with it to call the right number. My partials are all on the right side and of course I'm right handed so thats 2 strikes against me being right handed and trying to use my left hand for something my right hand would usually do. I think my job now is to make my phone more left hand friendly so I can grab it and use it.

i have a autodial on my phone linked to my mum, all i have to do is hold down a certain button for 3 or 4 seconds and it dials her .. could you set your cell up to do this ?

 

[pita300]

Thanks Jayde, I have just set up my speed dial on my phone so now that I have figured that out I probably wont need to use it. You know Murphys law

 

[Autumn Breeze]

Hey, that's ok too!!

 

[Maisy]

Hmm I have an idea, I know there not meant for this purpose but those "rape alarms""mugging alarms" whatever you want too call them, where you pull the thing or press a button and it goes off, the alarm noise would alert your son, don't mean too hurt anyone with that word!!, but totally forgot the official name and -hugs- hope your ok

 

[jayde-101]

Hmm I have an idea, I know there not meant for this purpose but those "rape alarms""mugging alarms" whatever you want too call them, where you pull the thing or press a button and it goes off, the alarm noise would alert your son, don't mean too hurt anyone with that word!!, but totally forgot the official name and -hugs- hope your ok

panic alarm,... but thats a really good idea i like that one :agree:

 

[Maisy]

yeee that's it xD

 

[CQ:)]

PITA - so sorry about the clusters.
I live alone & my parents are 30 mins drive from me. When my seizures returned & my partials weren't controlled I used to talk to my Mum at less 3 time a day.
I have a neighbor who is like another Nanna to me, she has a set of my front keys so if there was ever a time where no one had seen me or heard from me or my Mum was concerned the neighbor would be able to let herself in to check on me.
Now my seizures are currently controlled I still speak to my Mum every day but only once or twice a day.

 

[Cint]

I live alone now, but my seizures aren't as bad as they once were. When I was married, I was having bad TC, sometimes several a month and my husband was a pilot. Often times I had seizures when he was overseas on a trip. So we had a Lifeline Medical Alert service installed in case of emergency. All anyone had to do was push a button. Plus all our neighbors knew. Now that I'm alone, I tell my friends and have told the local police and firemen.

http://philips.lifelinesystems.com/content/lifeline-products/cell-phone
Lifeline vs Cell Phone

 

[valeriedl]

My husband works during the day. Luckily I have family that lives next door but that doesn't matter sometimes when it deals with having a seizure because I usually don't know I've had one unless someone is there to see it happen. I always keep my home phone and cell on me at home so if someone calls and I don't answer they come over right away to make sure I'm ok.

I usually talk to my grandma every morning and eat lunch with my dad. I send my husband text messages when I take my meds so he know's that I've taken them.

My grandma called the other day and said she'd be over in two hours to get me and go shopping. I started getting ready but next thing I knew I woke up on the couch about an hour later. I don't remember laying down there and falling asleep. I know I'd had a seizure. If it would have been a bad one I would have to wait another hour for her to come to the house and find me.

I've even had seizures in the same room with my husband while we've been watching tv. I've gotten up and walked around during some of them but he doesn't realize that it was a seizure that I was having while I was doing it.

See if you can have someone check in on you every so often during the day. Maybe call or send you a text (or you could send them a text).

 

[pita300]

My grandma called the other day and said she'd be over in two hours to get me and go shopping. I started getting ready but next thing I knew I woke up on the couch about an hour later. I don't remember laying down there and falling asleep. I know I'd had a seizure. If it would have been a bad one I would have to wait another hour for her to come to the house and find me.



I have family close and very good friends even closer. Since this happened I set speed dial numbers for my son and my good friend. I have given an extra key to my front door to my good friend and his wife. They can be at my house in a matter of minutes. When I had complex partials I had no idea I had them untill after it was over. Now I know when it starts and i'm some what aware of my surroundings. That's what scared me the most was my son was 100 feet away in his room and I could not get his attention and it really scared me. I now have a procedure in place that hopefully I don't have to use.

 

[LonelyAuras]

They cost 40$ at Walmart

My neighbor and I have baby monitors that reach 2000ft.,Im lucky enough to have auras..so usually when the aura starts, i will turn the monitor on.