Epilepsy

[Just J]

ouch. Amusing story, but ouch.

At a game store I used to work at our boss told us about a kid who had a seizure in the store. At the hospital they tried the usual battery of tests, but couldn't trigger another fit. They called the store and asked what he was doing, said he was playing a game, so we sent the demo system over, and sure enough, Mario 64 triggered a seizure in the poor kid.

 

[derrenleepoole]

I don't know about you guys in the US, but here in the UK, if you have a epileptic seizure you loose your driving license for a minimum 1 year. After my seizure at a computer work station, I lost my driving license. The whole process from driving license loss to license renewal was nearly 2 years in all. No laughing matter if you're a professional gigging musician.

 

[Timmayx]

Don't you have to wait longer than a year minimum to get a driving liscence back after an epileptic fit?

Or is that aother kind of fit.

Funny story, but only because your ok. I guess I'm lucky, I don;t have epilepsy. My playing just sucks LOL

 

[CBRStingray]

Wow. This thread has been really interesting. I've never actually spoken to anyone with epilepsy about their experiences.

 

[derrenleepoole]

Don't you have to wait longer than a year minimum to get a driving liscence back after an epileptic fit?

Or is that aother kind of fit.

Funny story, but only because your ok. I guess I'm lucky, I don;t have epilepsy. My playing just sucks LOL

In my case it was a year. But by the time I'd gone through the red tape of reapplication the whole process took nearly 2 years. I actually lost my license from my first seizure which happened in my sleep. Brought on by stress. I didn't know that you could lose your license this way. It was only in hospital when a doctor made a passing comment that I wouldn't be driving for a year that I found out the full facts.

Epilepsy is serious business. My seizure did several things. First, it badly damaged my back. So much so that nearly 3 years on I'm still in pain. I could even pull a hand brake on in the car it was that bad, let alone walk propely. Second, it forced me to sell my car because i couldn't legally drive. The car was on HP, so I had to first take out a lone to buy it out right, and then sell it. I made substantial losses. Third, I had to readdresses my whole approach to playing. New lighter instrument, amplifier, everything.

I'm sure some people have it far worse than me. Maybe a sticky thread about use experience might provide useful to some people in the forum?

 

[Timmayx]

Damn, sorry to hear about your back problems dude. I hope that one day (sooner rather than later) that your back gets back into some state of normalness for you


And I agree with you Disco about the thread.

 

[Bassic83]

Don't you have to wait longer than a year minimum to get a driving liscence back after an epileptic fit?

Or is that aother kind of fit.

Funny story, but only because your ok. I guess I'm lucky, I don;t have epilepsy. My playing just sucks LOL

If you have ANY epileptic fit and you're a pilot, you're done. As in, revoked. As in, You'll Never Fly Again, unless it's under Part 103. And even that, you may get investigated if you're a part of ANY incident. Part 103, for those of you who don't know, is the section of the FAR (Federal Aviation Regulations) known as Ultralight. Max 55mph, level flight, stall 29mph, 5 gal. fuel capacity, overall weight of aircraft (dry- no fuel or oil) must be 254 lbs. or less. No license is needed to fly one, but flight instruction STRONGLY recommended (it can easily kill you! You DON'T want to end up as a LAWN DART!).

 

[Dave Martin]

This would probably be a good place to remind those of you who have never seen a seizure what not to do.

First, DON'T try to stick anything in the victim's mouth - I've seem more broken teeth from this than I have any seizure caused injuries. Second, don't try to forcibly restrain them - or move them, for that matter, unless their position is of itself life threatening (as in the victim is about to fall off a bridge or something.

Unless things have changed drastically since I worked with seizure prone people, you should basically put something underneath the head so that the victim won't inadvertently bang it into the ground; My first response was usually to use my feet, spread a little apart - this cushions the head and supports the neck. If the victim seems as though they're choking, turn their heads sideways (with some guys, we'd just lay them on their sides), and move anything that could hurt the victim out of the way (like drums...). And don't try to 'bring them around'; they'll come out of it on their own.

(I just checked - it's pretty much the same as it was in 1975); here's information that y'all should know anyway; check out: Invalid Link Removed The only difference I see between the US and UK in this respect is that what we call 'grand mal' and 'petit mal' seizures, the page refers to as 'Tonic-Clonic' and 'partial' seizures.

 

[odarellmc]

I had a seizure in March. Lost much of my left hands fine motor control. Still trying to get it back after all these months. Can't play what I used to but I practice every day. It's like I have to learn my left hand all over again