[Lzen]

I know Smed's post is a little hard to read but I feel that I am in a position to relate. I never told you all about this because I don't normally like to put personal stuff like medical issues out there but I guess this is as good a time as any to break that rule. Sorry for the long post but there is a lot to tell.

At the end of this month will mark the anniversary of what happened to me 2 years ago. I had a seizure just after walking on my morning break. All I remember was that it was a hot day and I was getting thirsty, or dehydrated. The fact that my brother in law and his wife had come over to hang and drink a few (too many) the night before probably had something to do with that. I told my coworkers who were walking with me that I had to cut our walk a couple of blocks short and go back in the building. I sat down at my PC with a bottle of water and I don't remember much after that.

Apparently, sometime within the next 20 minutes, I seized up, making weird sounds and tipped over in my chair onto the concrete floor (ended up with a goose egg on my head). The next thing I remember is waking up in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. I was really confused, as you can probably imagine. Slowly, my brain started coming around and I started understanding what was happening. Of course, it helped that the EMT explained what had happened.

I was in the trauma for awhile before they admitted me for the night. During that time, they ran all kinds of tests (various blood labs, 2 different types of CATscans, MRI, etc). They didn't do an EEG until the next day (if memory serves, they said they couldn't get a good EEG until the next because they had given me some anti seizure meds).

The only thing that all of these tests results showed is that I am healthy. Nothing was out of normal range. That was the frustrating part. Never had a seizure in 50 years of living on this Earth until that day. If it was something that had done to cause it and I could change, I would have.

My wife had me convinced that I was just super dehydrated from drinking too much the night before. And when she told me that one of our close friends had something similar happen to him recently, she had me convinced that was probably what caused it. So, from that point on, I tried to not drink too much and always stay hydrated.

Fast forward 11 months. It was the Saturday morning before Memorial day. I had only had a couple of beers the night before. Felt fine other than I think I might have had one of those ocular migraines that I had been getting for a few years. They only happen occasionally and I take some ibuprofen and they tend to go way after about 30-45 minutes.

So, I felt fine after that went away and the wife and I headed out to run some errands. About a half mile down the road, I started feeling a sense of dread and everything started going dark. I pulled over immediately and parked. Next thing I remember was waking up again in an ambulance on the way to the hospital. Let me tell you, that made me a little angry and very sad (just wanted to scream out "why, God...why now?").

This time they only ran a few blood tests. Everything was normal, yet again. So, they still have no idea why I had these seizures. The only family I know of that had a history of epilepsy was my cousin, who has had that since she was a kid. After the first one, I chose not to get on meds (I hate taking medicines) but after the 2nd one, I knew I had to start taking the meds. The one I started taking has been around for decades and is well known for this type of thing. And, so far, it seems to be working.

Anyway, I know with mine they said I aspirated. I saw that BJ Thompson had cardiac arrest. That's nuts for such a young guy. I'm thankful that neither of mine were quite that bad. These things can be very serious medical events. I hope and pray that he gets better.

It has been over a year now and I have not had any more seizures(knock on wood). I haven't been able to ride the last 2 riding seasons but I am finally able to enjoy it again this year. Know that we are all only here temporarily and life your life to the fullest.