Down and Out (Again)

Lisbeth is down with seizures again. And so it goes. At least there were no big long seizures this time. But she is in the postictal fog and on these days she behaves alot like someone with Autism: she is non-verbal for a while, and does the same things over and over, like trotting back and forth, and clapping and snapping her fingers. When she gets a little clearer she repeats phrases, and asks for the same foods - chadder cheese (Lis-ism) and vanilla ice cream. She also craves eggs and peanut butter during these times of recuperation. This is interesting, because these are the high fat foods found in the Ketogenic Diet that is used to treat certain seizure disorders.

Here are a few shirts that we just listed on Lisbeth's Etsy store, her Big Heart mandala in a couple of new spring colors - a Robin's egg blue, and a soft teal green! Pretty! This mandala reminds me of the Pennsylvania Dutch Hex signs. (Hmmmm, now that would be another cool way to use Lisbeth's designs - on painted wooden signs!)

Smart Teacher

Four Glad Giants, one of Lisbeth's nine newly framed mandalas, now for sale over at Brainstorm Studio.

Lisbeth talking about the young man she shares her house with. He has severe autism, is non-verbal (but makes occasional loud shouts) and spends a good part of each day holding and wiggling his "dolls" (a rubber lobster and an octopus). She alternates between perseverating negatively about him, to knowing about him (and missing him when he goes home to visit his family...)

Mad of It

Lisbeth's Antler Men Mandala, framed and for sale on her Etsy shop.

Lisbeth often feels frightened that she will die from her seizures. This is a reasonable fear because it is a distinct possiblity. If Lisbeth does not take her medications, which include PRN lorazepam every time she has a seizure, she will go into status epilepticus - a non-stop grand mal seizure that is potentially fatal. So it is understandable that Lis has great anxiety.

One of her therapists described living with uncontrolled seizures this way: Imagine. It would be like getting in your car every day and driving onto the highway knowing that your tires are going to blow. The question then would be, not if, but when.

There is so much about Lisbeth's condition that is out of her control, and she often directs her anger and fear about her situation towards those around her. For instance, she sometimes feels that her helpers favor her housemate and that she is being treated unfairly. Actually, they don't do this, but this is Lisbeth's reality. Lisbeth's housemate lives upstairs in the split level that they share. He has autism, and they each have round the clock one-on-one staffing. When Lis is triggered, she perseverates on her housemate in a negative way. This is how her brain works - it grabs onto something and obsesses over and over and over....

It is very important to validate her feelings...