Living with Epilepsy/Seizures

Martin is now 19 years old and has suffered from seizures since he was born. He was delivered by a doctor who caused this to happen by not taking the correct actions once complications started. And yet he still delivers babies. Martin’s name was picked out of the baby book after two days in the hospital waiting to see him, they kept telling us they didn’t know if he was going to make it. So you can imagine what I was feeling. Anyway, I don’t remember what name we had picked out for him but I looked and looked and read the definitions of what the names represented, to help. Well the name Martin means “Someone who doesn’t give up or stop trying, very strong.” I really don’t remember if there was more than that but I know that was the deciding factor. Let me tell you he is definitely a Martin and a Marty for short!!! The day we were to bring him home, we got to the hospital and they had already sent us to a bigger hospital 70 miles away telling us that they noticed him experiencing seizures Well now you know we were in a panic, we couldn’t get any answers from the very beginning of what really happened other than he was in distress during the delivery. Well this hospital they sent him to saved his life, I say, because they seemed to know what they were doing even though they had no idea what had happened to him or even his name.

He stayed there approximately 2 to 3 weeks. During the 2nd week we were asked “Where are his records from the sending hospital?” They couldn’t understand why they didn’t receive them the day he arrived, and still didn’t have them. Well let me tell ya, it was only obvious to me why they didn’t have them! It was because they were being altered in a way to show no fault of what could of been prevented. Starters, I had a previous C-Section during my first birth because he was breach. But I delivered my second child vaginally with minor complications of the cervix not dilating. I was given an epidural and that resolved the problem.

My first two children where only 6 pound babies, But Martin was 8.8 pounds. So in my eyes once they saw complications arise they should of delivered C-Section and Martin would have been fine. During the delivery there was a lot of commotion with everyone. The nurse trying to put a IV in and had complications, there was blood all over my arm and dripping to the floor. All I remember doing was ignoring everyone around me and closed my eyes and beared down pushing when the doctor just pulled him out by his arm and he was blue. They immediately took him away to nursery and closed all the blinds letting no one see what was going on, avoided telling anyone anything, not even that he was going to make it. Including me.

So, anyway, after the other hospital told me about the records, My husband and I went and spoke to an attorney about malpractice. There where other factors other than the care at the hospital. He arrived to the other hospital in an ambulance and was extremely dehiadrated [dehydrated]. Not a good thing. You know, this usually is something that takes place in a small community and they all protect each other no matter who it may hurt or have to suffer because of it. The Attorney we hired had a nurse from another state come in and do investigation to find that everything had been red taped. I’m assuming that means altered to their needs to save them from having to take responsibilty of what happened. The doctor is trying blame my prenatal care. How that has any factor in the state of health that I am. Because I was very healthy, and so was the father and the siblings. I had no type of abnormal complications while I was carrying him. I experienced one false labor, a week or two prior to his birth. Everything just stopped once I had gotten to the hospital. Now I feel that maybe that was sign not to have him delivered there, it sure would have made things turn out differently. Still today this doctor is still delivering babies! Only because no one would come forward and think about what my son now suffers, and what he will never be able to experience in life such as his own children or spouse, the experience of ever being on his own. He suffers seizures on a daily basis.

I will never be able to know how he really feels about anything in life, except for the few things that he makes it obvious he enjoys and that is to ride in a car, truck, or any related transportation. He has 20 siblings that he loves very, very much and I am sure that they would have liked to do a lot more with their brother, I know that they hated to see what he has to go through on a daily basis. I know that there are many people and children that have similar experiences and I never will feel that we are the only ones.

The only real thing that I would like to see happen is to the doctor that delivered Marty, take the responsibility of what he did and could have prevented. I would give anything including my life to just see what Martin would have become, or to take away all that he goes through. I do know that anyone that has gotten to know Marty has always been touched with just that. My older children are grown and on their own lives and starting their families. Martin’s father and I are divorced and have been for about 15 years. He is very much in Martin’s life but I have dedicated the rest of life to try and give Martin the best I can, experience the most that he can. I have became very interested in knowing as much as I can about his seizures and that is what brought me to this web site. trying to find out more on medications to treat his seizure. I have just recently experienced this new type of seizure he is having and I think that is due to medications he is taking now. KEPPRA. He has the hullusinations [hallucinations] where they turn to the left and it is very difficult to get him to relax or to stop the hullusination that is going on. Normally he has the conic/ tonic generalized seizures, and now when he has those about 60% of the time he goes into the hullusinations, which creates even more or longer conic/ tonic [tonic-clonic] seizures one after another. He has only been on this Keppra about a year and I need to know more about this medication’s side effects. Please let me know if you are familiar with this. Thank you for tis time to share Mine and Martin’s Story. It has been awhile since I have went in to detail but let me tell you I remember it like it was yesterday. Thank you.