another disappointing event (Ray has a seizure)
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Written by suew 30. Nov 2007 05:42 PM
On Sunday Ray had what I thought of as a "turn". He called out, when I got into the bedroom he looked like a rag doll, arms outstretched and he looked frightened. When I tried to get him up he had no muscle power. I managed to sit him up, then tried to stand him up as he wanted to go to the bathroom. I got no help from him and as he was a dead weight I eventually sat him on the floor and he flopped back.
With the help of our son we half-carried him out to the shower, then cooled him off, cleaned him up, redressed him and got him first onto my bed, then back onto his. Took me half an hour or so to do all of this. Ray slept for about three hours and then when he got up seemed fine. This was not like any of the five previous strokes and I did not call an ambulance,I thought I'd see how he was after the nap.
I left it for a few days before taking him to our local doctor. He called what Ray had a "brain infarct". He also called it a brain fit. He said Ray has had many of these and the dementia and continuing weakness is the result. The medication he is on is all that he can take right now. I am amazed that I have never witnessed one of these infarcts but apparently they mainly occur during sleep so the result is just a person who is much slower getting dressed, more tired, lacking appetite for a day or so etc.
It is times like this I realise I am not getting any younger. Picking Ray off the floor takes me a couple of days to get over now as my back muscles stiffen. I know I should get help, call the paramedics etc but it is much quicker to deal with it myself if I can.
For a lot of us caring for our loved ones also involves watching them change and deteriorate. It is a hard thing to do and I am as helpless and vulnerable as anyone else in this situation. There are times when this illness is so isolating and I feel a kind of despair. Mostly I am able to bounce back pretty quickly. I have to remember this too will pass.