Anyway, how are you doing?. Any idea what the problem is yet?
My newsletter:
OK friends and family, I know everybody has a lot of questions, so I decided I would just put it all down in one place and send it to everyone, so I don’t have to keep repeating myself.
Why am I here? I have had a series of seizure episodes this fall. Three in all. One was the day before Thanksgiving. The second was on Christmas Eve. And the third one was Thursday. These were characterized by lightheadedness, dizziness and vertigo, loss of consciousness, and a bunch of other things including nausea, vomiting, and worse. I called 911, and was taken to Seton Ascension hospital in Austin.
Because my vitals were normal, they decided they had to do a lot of diagnostic testing. So I have had a CT scan of the brain, an MRI of the brain and the heart, an sonogram of the heart and my legs, an EKG (heart), and an EEG (brain). If that sounds like a lot, it is because it was a lot. So first the good news...
My brain looks fine, no tumors, electric signals all working correctly. My heart looks fine, good pulse, good rhythm, good blood pressure. My heart valves look good. And blood seems to be going to all parts of my body where it should be. I have been worried about my feet swelling, and an examination reveals there are no tumors in my legs. So a lot of the things that I have been worried about seem to be fine. They could not find anything physiologically wrong with my body that explains the seizures.
So why are you passing out? That is still the million dollar question. The neurologist believes that I have a mild form of epilepsy. She said that changes in physiology associated with age can cause seizure episodes. They don’t know that is what is happening to me, but given the lack of a physical explanations, it seems to be the best. So they are going to put me on an anti-seizure medication called Keppra. A low-dose for starts. And they’re going to monitor things and see how I progress. Often, just taking Keppra for 30 days will stop seizure episodes for good.
Why are you still in the hospital? Everything was going good, and I was planning to be discharged this afternoon, when I had a major hypoglycemic episode. 16 mg/Dl. Major episode. I had eight people in my room trying to revive me. So now the question is, did the pharmacy give me too much insulin? Or is the Keppra causing a hypoglycemic side effect? Until I figure out what the problem is, they’re not going to let me go home. So it looks like I’m spending another day here.
Everything is going well. I am feeling better. I am relieved to know that I don’t have a brain tumor or early heart failure. We will deal with everything else.
If you have any questions about this, let me know. I love you all. Thank you for your support and concern.
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So I am taking the anticonvulsant, and a new blood thinner. They updated my heart medications. And I actually feel very good. I may go to the office tomorrow.