Day # 10 - Busy, busy day!

Photo of Neurons Firing magnified x100. Courtesy of Flickr.com by Neurollero


Today the side effects were just the same as any other day. Nothing new, and nothing worse... Thank God! I have already been getting used to the feeling in my throat, and I honestly didn't notice it until now!
The only complaint I have today is that using the magnet on the device is so much harder than it looks. A patient needs a lot of practice to use the magnet setting for the VNS device. It's quite funny because I accidentally set off the magnet boost 5 times today... yet, when I needed the magnet boost I could not get the device to activate at all until after 7 tries. By that time the seizure had already come. (Thankfully it was not a bad seizure. Lasted about 60 seconds). I guess I just need more practice, but they sure made it look easy in the VNS Therapy DVD!
I saw no change in my energy today. I was still exhausted as usual, but this might be due to my late night studying and the fact that I sat through a 4 hour Algebra 2 class at home. I still felt that overwhelming mental block that I have experienced since last year. Many Epilepsy patients have this "block" feeling, especially during studying. At one point I flat out told my tutor that I could not finish a single problem because my brain literally could not think. My Epileptologist claims this can be a form of a seizure and I sure hope this will not be happening frequently like it used to. Epilepsy is very hard on students.
Basically today I have nothing new to tell you (unfortunately) except that one must be very skilled to use the magnet setting on my VNS! I am going to rest because my seizures are coming back today. I pushed myself to the limit by staying awake all day, and even attempted to go see Iron Man 2 which just did it for me. Loud noises and special effects... not great on my brain, and lack of sleep is just going to make it far worse. Sweet dreams everyone.

Until next time,
Amanda Krzywonski