Seizures

Rick had a seizure last month, the Monday after Easter. I was in PA visiting Tamara and family. Cheryl went to be with him in the emergency room all day. I really appreciate her taking her time to sit with him. His Depakote blood levels were low so they gave him some IV. They found he had a UTI and put him on an antibiotic. They also increased his daily Depakote to 5 sprinkle caps twice a day (he had been on 4 bid). So we thought he should be free of seizures for awhile. Well, it wasn’t long before I started noticing him having what I call seizure like episodes in the morning. He would be very jerky, his knees giving way with him. We would have to sit him down and let him rest awhile. This probably happened 4-5 times. It is very disconcerting. Then yesterday afternoon he had another seizure. The nurse called me saying his pupils were unequal and he couldn’t get Rick to respond to him. He said he was sitting on the floor and sleeping heavily. I asked him if he was snoring deeply and he said he was. I told him that was a seizure. Before I could get back to the nursing home when they first called, they had sent him to the emergency room again. I need to get them to realize that he doesn’t need to go to the ER every time he has a seizure. Anyway, I left work at 4 pm yesterday to go be with him. By the time I got there he was pretty alert. Normally he is sleepy for 3-4 hrs after a seizure. The church was praying for him and I strongly believe that it was their prayers that helped him get over it so soon. We left the hospital about 7:30 pm and went over to the church. Everyone was glad to see that he was better. He smiled and enjoyed everyone talking to him. I decided to keep him home last night, because he had a regularly scheduled appointment with his neurologist today. He slept all night. I woke up about 4 am and decided to take him to the bathroom. Then he went back to sleep and slept until I got him up in the morning. I enjoyed having him home overnight. But he is having more and more trouble maneuvering the stairs. It wouldn’t be good to have him here all the time, since there is no way to get into my house except for stairs, and there are stairs from the main level up to the bedrooms. I forgot about his medications when I decided to keep him overnight. It wasn’t until breakfast this morning that I remembered them. I scrounged through my medicine cabinet and found some old Depakote that is not the sprinkles. It is the extended release and is not supposed to be chewed. So I gave him one of those. I believe he actually swallowed it instead of chewing it. That was a miracle. The doctor is going to try him on some liquid Depakote so that we can increase the dosage without it being so many capsules that have to be sprinkled on his food. But she said that the liquid can cause stomach irritation. So we are going to do a 7 day trial of it to see if he can tolerate it. I have to go pick it up from the pharmacy yet. Rick is still a pretty happy man. He smiles at everyone if they can get his attention. He stops to talk to everyone he walks by. He enjoys going to church where he can see all his friends. And they all love him. I am so blessed to have such an easy patient to care for. Thank you Lord!