In Which I Do Some Skating And Connor Has A Seizure

Today I was lucky enough to have respite care for most of the afternoon; I'd originally scheduled it so I could go to a dentist appointment and then the time ended up being expanded when we had to move some of our respite care hours around due to everyone being sick earlier in the month.  So I went to the dentist's, which was every bit as exciting and fun as dentist appointments of mine usually are, only without the added drama of anyone being blown up this time.  I did accidentally leave my cell phone at home so I spent the entire appointment convinced that Connor was being rushed to the hospital at that very moment and Joanna couldn't get ahold of me, but otherwise everything went fine.  No cavities for me, and Connor didn't have any issues either so my paranoia was unfounded. 

So after the dental appointment (and my subsequent rush home to make sure Connor was still alive and to retrieve my cell phone) it was time for me to go skating!  I had originally planned to go in the morning while Connor was in school, but instead after doing some research I went to the store during that time and bought myself a pair of snowboarding pants.  Basically they're like bicycle pants (AKA Bubble Butt pants) times seven; they've got thick padding at the thigh, waist, rear cheeks and tailbone.  I am absolutely in love with these pants despite how ridiculous they make me look because thanks to them I am still able to walk after this afternoon's skating session.

I didn't waste any time trying out all of that padding.

So anyway, after my appointment I decided to head out to Bradley Park because it's got some nice flat areas of asphalt and a long bike trail which still had some decent hills but would be much easier to learn on than my street.  This session went much, much better than yesterday.  I figured out a way to stop that does not involve falling down, and after a while the crouching position you take on roller derby skates felt pretty natural and I stopped trying to straighten up, which cut back on my flailing considerably.  I spent about an hour on the half of the trail with the gentler curves, and then decided to try out the other side.

I was moving at a pretty good clip down a long hill and feeling spectacular when I rounded a wide curve and suddenly realized that I had forgotten about the wooden log bridge at the end of the slope.  I realized this about three feet from the bridge.  Anticipating a pretty spectacular fall but figuring I'd give it a go anyway, I hunkered down even lower on the skates and, much to my own surprise, bumped my way across!  I was mentally high-fiving myself and, due to my much lower stance, going even faster when I rounded the second curve and suddenly realized there was a second wooden bridge.  This one had the added feature of a rather large gap between logs right in the middle of the bridge.

About twenty feet up the trail from the bridge a sweet little old lady in a pale pink tracksuit was walking her beagle.  We made eye contact just as I hit the edge of the first log.  She watched, eyes the size of silver dollars, as I skidded across the planks, hit the big gap in the middle of the bridge and was launched airborne.  I came down on my left kneepad and wristguard simultaneously in kind of a superman position and slid the rest of the way across the bridge, coming to rest just on the other side. 

Thanks to my pads, I wasn't hurt a bit.  Actually it was kind of awesome.  Though I probably didn't impress the sweet little old lady at all.

I had planned to skate for two hours, but my time was cut short when I got a phone call from Joanna.  Connor was quite courteous and waited until I was in possession of my cell phone before having a seven minute seizure.  Not so great.  The good news, though, is that he didn't stop breathing once during the whole thing!  I can live with seven minute long seizures if they don't involve, you know, having to stave off death.

Joanna ended up using Diastat on the little guy but it stopped the seizure five seconds after she administered it and he was still breathing (Diastat is a respiratory depressant), so she didn't have to call the ambulance.  I'm not surprised that he had another one; if you don't count the febrile seizures it's been fifteen days since he had one last so he's overdue.  Hopefully this means that the new medication is starting to have an effect!

He did end up paralyzed on his left side, though.  We'll see how he's feeling in the morning. 

~Jess