I love driving in my car. I can't exactly call it a car; it's Dodge Grand Caravan that I named Ethel. Don't ask me why. My first car that I ever owned on my own was a candy apple red Plymouth Sundance. I named it Butch. Butch was an awesome little car. He replaced that Green Machine, a 1977 Plymouth Volare that was puke green and could sit six teenagers and have a cello, two violins, a baritone sax, a clarinet and six backpacks in the trunk and still have enough room. But I think Butch was my all time favorite. The two of us did many trips up to Maine during the summer. I think that little puppy even did a trip or two to Virginia and D.C. But he mostly went back and forth to my parents summer place in Wells, Maine. Ah-the way life should be!
Anyway, doing errands today got me thinking about how much I loved Butch and how it killed me to lose my licence for a while because of the seizures. I had been doing quite well for a while until I noticed the "auras" coming back. That's the really funky feeling I would get in my stomach right before I had a seizure. Most of the time it would stop before it went into a full blown seizure. I had been seeing my neurologist who put me through yet another EEG and had upped my Tegretol. I felt like it was getting back under control. Early May 1997 rolled around and I had been feeling tired a lot lately. I was working second shift at Baystate at the time. BRL (Baystate Reference Laboratories) had recently been born, and we were getting busier and busier with specimen drop off's coming as late as 11:30 at night and our shift was supposed to end at midnight. I had been pulling later and later nights to help get everything done, and I just couldn't seem to catch up on the sleep. My wedding was also five months away so I was extremely busy.
My Aunt Carrie had called and asked me to come over to her house for something. It was before I had to go to work and I had the time so I zipped on over. I can't even remember what it was for. I had been feeling really weird that day, almost like I did when I had mono in high school. When I was done doing whatever it was at Carrie's I remember getting back into Butch and heading home to the Frog House. Explaining why the house on LaBelle Street was called the Frog House could be a blog of it's own! I started to turn up towards the school and felt an aura starting. I knew what was happening, and it all happened so fast.
The next thing I knew a paramedic was talking to me. I was still sitting in Butch. I knew what had happened but couldn't speak. They took me over to the Baystate ER via ambulance to make sure that I was okay. After I had been there for a while and I was able to talk again I asked the nurse to call down to the lab and tell them that I wouldn't be in that night. I remember her looking at me funny, and I told her to just call down to micro and tell them. I honestly don't remember much about what happened there. I can't remember if Nick (my fiancee) came to get me or if my Aunt Carolyn did. But I know that it was Carolyn who took me down to the police station the following day. Because it was documented that a seizure caused the accident and I was a diagnosed epileptic I had my license suspended. I remember Aunt Carolyn holding on to me as I pulled it from my wallet and handed it over to the police officer. I cried the whole way over to Springfield to get a state ID. Why I bothered I don't know as I really couldn't drink alcohol while on the anti-seizure medications anyway.
I had to undergo another round of EEG testing. I remember actually having a seizure while having it done and the tech was so excited about that. My Tegretol level was increased and I was also put on a second anti-convulsant. I know that I couldn't drive for about two years after that and had to depend on so many people to be able to get to and from work. And trying to get a ride home at midnight really sucks. So I started looking for a day position got one at BRL in client services which I started in July 1998. It was nice to finally be on the same schedule as my now husband who was able to drop me off in the morning on his way to the office and pick me up at night.We were able to spend time together and enjoy it and each other.
Then came the discussion about having children.
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