When I went to get S into a position so that I could give her her breakfast yesterday morning she winced and clutched the top of the arm that she had probably been sleeping on and then almost immediately went rigid. I got her into the recovery position quickly. She was breathing noisily through her nose. I tried hard to see if her tongue was obstructing her throat but her teeth were clamped tightly together. All S's fits have lasted longer than most I've read about but when it got up to 10 mins I decided it was time to try the Buccolam medication which you squirt inside the cheek. I did this at about 11 or 12 mins. It was easier to squeeze than I thought and all went in on one side with some coming out and there was some choking that quickly subsided.
What I hadn't realised was that it's a sedative - the GP told me this when I phoned after I'd given it - so it was difficult to know initially whether/when the fit had morphed into a pretty deep sleep. She eventually did sleep for a long time. I told him the GP that the oxymeter was showing fluctuations and was mostly in the low nineties which I'd read was a cause for concern but he was happy that it hadn't gone below 90. I'd managed to contact a friend of S's who lives a few streets away and who has given me her number for this purpose. She came round fairly promptly and it was a great help having her there. I phoned the GP again and was reassured that the sleeping was OK - I even got him to listen to her breathing.
Daughter and baby came later and this was also a great help. Things returned to somethings like normal. The only after-effect seemed to be extreme tiredness. She ate and drank and used the commode as normal. We also had a couple of smiles. I think she slept pretty well and had her breakfast as normal so I'm hoping we'll get her to our 'Singing for the Brain' group this afternoon.
But these things are scary when you're on your own.....
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