Doing Life in Lavender

This is my pill pot! This contains all the medication I take. All the anti-seizure medication, all the medication to counteract the side effects of the anti-seizure medication and more gets carried around with me everywhere I go (unless I've forgotten!) If I have forgotten it, I tend to find myself in a bit of a pickle! (That's understating it slightly!) I'm trying to get better at remembering it though, as I've gotten myself in some tight spots where I'm patching together a dose from what I keep in my mum's bag, and my family's car.  And when I can't do that, I have to accept that I'm going to be twitchy until I get home. This is such a small thing and yet so much of my health depends on my ability to keep it organised and on my person.

This isn’t applicable to everyone, but one of my triggers is low blood sugar. When my blood sugar drops too low, I can start seizing. This is why I carry around snacks in my bag! It does come in handy though. Some of the medication I take, for dealing with the side-effects of anti-seizure meds, has to be taken after food, so it’s useful to have something to be able to eat so that I can ensure that I’m prepared to take my meds. Having a snack isn’t quite as important as making sure I have a drink, but it’s still useful to be able to have it in case I need it!

  This is really comforting to have when I'm out and about independently, like my medical ID. Having a card that explains what my seizures might look like and how to respond to them if I'm found having one out in public is just another safety net that hopefully someone will find and be able to respond appropriately. This is especially reassuring as my seizures aren't typical to what is taught when you are taught about Epilepsy on first aid courses (my brother went to medical school and wasn't taught about seizures that looked like mine! I'm weird.) This card has what my seizures look like, how long they last for, as well as at what point to ring an ambulance. It also contains emergency contact information to get hold of my family. This combined with my medical ID creates a safety net for me when I go out by myself that even if something does happen, I have given the people around me as much information possible to try and help me in that situation.

  (Yes, it's a Fruit Shoot! This is what was already in my bag. They're small and convenient to carry around. Also apparently, I have the taste buds of a 7 year-old!) One of the important things for me to have at all times is a drink, not just because it is good for my general health, or because one of my medications makes it very easy to become dehydrated, but mainly so that I can take medication on the go. Sometimes I split my doses (please check with a medical professional before doing this!). As I mentioned in Rescue Meds, my condition can be unpredictable and there are times when I need to take medication early to adjust with that, this means I need a drink to be able to take my tablets. I have far too often been caught out needing to take tablets, and having no drink to take them with (oops…). This just doesn’t work when some of my tablets taste as vile as they do! Keeping a drink on me at all times is the best option!

This is a seasonal one, but this is another tool I carry around with me to help me manage one of my main triggers. I’ve spoken before about triggers & one of them is overheating. Last summer, during a heatwave, I carried this cool towel with me everywhere! Mostly as a hat! It came in very helpful when I was overheating and needed to cool down quickly. Here’s how it works, you simply need to run it under water of any temperature then wring it out and there you go, one towel of freezing cold soggy goodness. The weather at the moment isn’t inspiring me to keep it in my bag for now, but I know it’s there and I’m sure it will be useful when the sun decides to come out.

I have had tonic-clonic seizures throughout my life.( Tonic clonic seizures | Epilepsy Society ) I have been given medication to use if my seizure lasts longer than 2 minutes, administered by somebody else of course. Thankfully I haven’t needed this medication in years, but it’s still really important I have it, just in case! Whilst I now understand the importance of keeping rescue meds on my person, I haven’t always been so understanding. I was nearly unable to go on a school trip because the school lacked someone able to administer the medication, if necessary. Nowadays I understand the need to be prepared & that situations can change quickly, but this was difficult to explain to 12 year-old me & if that’s why I was missing out on a trip, it didn’t go down well…( my mum was a LEGEND! She came up with magical solutions. My younger self didn’t realise how much she sacrificed for me.) I can now appreciate the need to be ready for any situation. After 11 years more experience

This is my medical ID. I have it in 2 forms that never leave my person. I never take off this necklace. Well not unless my baby niece, who likes eating it, is around! The reason I have a necklace is specifically so that I don’t have to take it off as my work in a hospital means I cannot wear a bracelet. I also have a card (along with the necklace which are from Medicalert ) which has a bit more detail on it. However, both include information on my epilepsy and allergies as well as a way to access my full medical history.  These are really helpful as they mean, if anything happens to me and I end up in an accident, it’s much easier to access my medical history, this includes what meds I take and what I’m allergic to. These things give me more confidence to go out independently. Trying to get me to wear my medical ID when I was little was a palaver, I hated it! Thankfully, I’ve started to understand what it does for me, so I feel much better about wearing it and appreciate the safety

Today marks the start of National Epilepsy Week and if you’ve been around this blog for a while you know I never miss an opportunity to use an epilepsy related holiday/event to talk about something important to me! I’ve recently realised how much seemingly random stuff in my bag is there because I have seizures. So this week I decided to go through some of the random stuff in my bag that I would not be carrying around if it weren’t for my epilepsy and hopefully explain how something that seems very simple can actually be quite important. The reason I carry around so much is because I want to be prepared for any eventuality regarding my seizures. And that covers quite a lot of ground, resulting in carrying around quite a lot of stuff! You may be aware of some mums and their superpower of having everything needed for any possible situation. At least mine always used to be on the ready with her (only slightly cooler looking) Mary Poppins bag! This week I’m talking about some of the stuf