Several years ago I had a life changing experience. I had a grand mal seizure at work. Through testing and more tests I have been diagnosed with Epilepsy. I continued to have different types of seizures until they got my meds right. I have been seizure free for over 3 years. So... today,
Breezy and I went on a hike. It was cool but not raining. We had an almost 10-mile hike on our calendar. We met at the assigned time, headed to the trail head. It was a wonderful hike. There are several small water crossings and 2 what I would call tricky/wet feet crossings. We did really good right up until the last one. Wet feet for both of us. We laughed but went on. We hiked to the most beautiful falls. Oh, it's beautiful there. We had lunch and took pictures and enjoyed our time there. While we were there several groups of people came to enjoy it. It's a non-raining Sunday, trails are busy. We started early though. One of the groups left as we were getting geared back up. Hiked back out of the base of the falls and headed back down the trail. As we came to the first crossing the group of 3 young people that had left in front of us were across the water but in the boulders. It was obvious she was in trouble. Her head was lolling to the side, and she was very floppy. I grabbed Breezy's trekking poles, and she went off. She was in SARS years ago and a guide. She works in the medical field, with patients, now. She was the most qualified between the 2 of us. She got there first and safely. When I got there, she was doing vitals as best as she could and asking questions. Maddie apparently had said she felt funny and then promptly had a seizure in the rocks. She appeared to have not hit her head and nothing was broken but she was not in a good way. At all. When we realized nothing was broken we needed to get her out of the boulders. We got her up and off the trail under the trees. She was not coherent and very floppy. Breezy asked all the smart questions and We were figuring out all the what nows. There was a couple that crossed with us. The asked if we wanted 911. I looked at Breezy, we looked at Maddie, and said yes. There was a sign heading up to the trailhead that said no cell service and no 911. Somewhere about mid hike I suddenly got a text, so I explained to keep checking as I had random service on the way up. about 20 minutes later a man who had been booking it rounded the corner out of breath. He asked if we needed 911, they had a Garmin in reach. Breezy said yes. The other couple had passed them and they said they were headed to find 911. The new folks had the Garmin so the man came running up! Lots of texts with SAR and conversations with us, we came to the conclusion that we would carry Maddie and start down. We were about 3 hours of a wait if we stayed so we thought we could cut some of the distance if we all helped. We started down, lots of stops and lots of water. We ran into the SARS folks and they asked lots of info and took vitals and talked a lot to Maddie and her friends. They asked Breezy and I what we saw/did. They took over. Breezy and I both exhaled and went whew!
So here is where I came in. I'm really good in an emergency. I fall apart later. I don't know how Maddie felt, but I know how I felt waking up after a seizure. I was scared and very disoriented for about 24 + hours. When Maddie started coming around and was so confused, I could talk to her, from experience. I held her hand and told her she was ok and would continue to be ok. I told her I have epilepsy and my experiences. She asked several questions that I could answer. I told her what she might expect in the ambulance. She wanted them to give her something in the ambulance to make sure that didn't happen again. We chuckled and said that isn't how it works. But they would help her to figure out what happened. I told her friends that when they called her parents they needed to start with, she's ok, but this has happened. I hugged her when we left. I'm confident she will be just fine.
So after all that, I had my first answer to the "why did this have to happen to me?" My diagnoses has brought a fear into my life I didn't know I could have. I've worked through a lot and am way better. There are still things I'd rather not do alone, just in case. But beside all that, I helped a young 24 year old women with what was probably the scariest moments in her life. I had some answers for her.
The moral of the story? Breezy and I will now have a Garmin in reach for just said emergency!
Peace
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