Let’s Go Home..?
I thought it would be simple and straightforward- I think we know by now, that wasn’t what was going to happen.
Both Malia and I were so excited knowing we could pack up that room and hit the road, with only a few hours between us and our real beds :) I had to run down to the hospital pharmacy to grab more rescue meds for our ride home. I rounded the corner off the elevator back to our room and found all the nurses huddled around Malia (my heart went into panic). The nurse who was watching Malia, while I ran downstairs, stepped out of the room leaving Malia alone. Malia said she knew she wasn’t feeling ‘right’ and tried to get help, getting off her hospital bed and walking toward the room door. She said she knew she couldn’t make it and ran back to the bed. Just then, the nurse happened to walk back in.
The nurse, who had been with us earlier in the morning, doing vitals, had seen Malia’s normal behavior but, when she saw her this time, she knew something was definitely off. The nurse hit the call button to alert the other nurses who all came in for additional eyes and support. Malia’s speech was slurred and slowed down while she was saying random things that made no sense at all. She said everything was double and people were stacked on top of each other in her vision. Her pupils were non-reactive and she just sat there- this was about the time I walked in.
It took Malia about 15 minutes to get back to her normal self and feeling better. Our neurologist came in to make sure we could be discharged still after that episode and making sure onboarding her medications was still going as planned. The neurologist let us know that from the sounds of it Malia now has an additional ‘type’ of seizure, absent seizures. Thinking back we have seen her do this many, many times but she always convinced us that she was just being silly.
Finally, on our way home. Pounding rain on the windshield and traffic. I’ve never gripped a steering wheel so hard in my life. Malia was post-ictal and very tired and she feel asleep almost immediately after we pulled out of the parking garage. I know her seizures come usually right before sleep, during sleep or right after.. I’m mortified!! I have the rescue meds on the passenger seat, my review mirror pointed directly at her seat, and I’m eyeing every mile marker and exit sign as I drive down the highway. Im keeping my eyes peeled for any open shoulder or rest stop, preparing for the just in case.
That 3-and-a-half-hour drive felt like 12, but at least we were finally home.
