Seizure disorders are one of the scarier-looking issues that are common for people with cerebral palsy and other neurological disorders. We don’t necessarily talk about it a lot. It’s not exactly the pleasantest part of what we do, but it is what it is. We find ways to manage, like millions of others dealing with the disorder. What does that have to do with coffee? I’m getting there.
I didn’t really like coffee when I was a young woman. In my first job, I did not have to allow myself time to put on a pot or stop by the local coffee joint for a latte. I didn’t know what I was missing.
It probably had something to do with my dad who always drinks his coffee black. When I was a little girl and asked if I could have coffee, he was more than happy to oblige with a sip right out of his current cup. Ugh! I still don’t drink my coffee black.
So when I had a son with special needs who wasn’t a great sleeper (thank goodness they are so cute at that age!), and a 5 lb 10 oz rascal (who incidentally in just a few short months turned into a great sleeper), I started drinking coffee. First it was a necessary pick-me-up. Then it was a daily habit. Then it was an integral part of my make up.
Even recently when I completely removed sugar from my diet, I still have that morning cup. To my very great surprise, I still love it.
There’s more to it, though. Occasionally Noah will still have the nighttime seizure. Early on when it happened, I jumped out of bed and ran into his room. Now that he’s older, and I’m older, and we’ve been doing this a little longer, I’m a little slower getting out of the bed. It’s a little more of a sleepy shuffle getting to his room. The seizures don’t ever last long, so I rub his chest a little, give him a kiss, and tell him to go back to sleep (and being the teenager that he is, he’s like, “mom! leave me alone! I’m trying to sleep!”). He says so much with his expressions. I’m like, “Me, too, dude!” He goes immediately back to sleep. I do not.
Does it sound weird, my blasé attitude about it? I guess seizures for most people are the panic-inducing, 911-calling kind of thing (as it should be!). And we did that once upon a time when they first started. But for many parents of and people with neurological issues, they are just a thing we deal with.
Right now you’re thinking that it’s crazy. And that there’s medications for that! I don’t know how to disabuse you from that notion. Medications work for some people, but I once met a kid with CP taking eight different seizure meds and still having seizures.
Anyway, nighttime seizures don’t happen to Noah very often these days, for which I am thankful, but you know what my favorite coping mechanism is?
Coffee
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