BECOME YOUR OWN THERAPIST

This is a simple solution that will not involve paying a therapist for therapy that basically does not work. If you choose to see on that’s fine but, is it someone that you can see every day when you choose to get the people you are stuck home with out of your head. And I do mean out of your head! When you come to those days of being tormented by them and cannot find a way keep them from causing you much bigger issues that lead to in the end, death even. You cannot see a therapist whenever you choose to but, Art Therapy may help you even more then anything else.

I hadn’t thought would work either until my wife picked a few up for me, not that I was asking but, am glad now that she did. I always told her that I enjoyed drawing characters of all sorts from comics when I was younger and later in my college years trying to become a architect and got pulled out of school twice, from NYIT. Teachers had liked my drawings and sketches of models very much but, those days are over now and I have other interests in my life for others in need. So anyway, until that gets finalized not as of yet but will, I need to tell you about Art Therapy books. Pictures that others have drawn in black and white of all sorts of figures, comics, shapes and sizes laid out beautifully for you to color and paint if you wish with markers, pencils, artist watercolor pencils that turn your colored drawing into a painting by adding drops of water and spreading the paint around gently that releases the color vibrant when a wet brush is applied. When you are looking down on the paper, studying your artwork, it keeps your head in one place and one place only when being bothered by others screaming and making noise around you, lots of noise and stupidity that is not necessary! Make your own drawings on an easel and sketch paper from an art store if you wish to, whatever keeps your head on straight and in control of your own problems and predicaments. Most of these Art Therapy books though are for adults needing more therapy than a child but, there are therapeutic art books for children as well. some artist pens and pencils can be a bit pricey but, most of them are cheaper and work just as well as the more expensive ones. If you choose to use Crayola crayons, it can become very difficult for you and Crayola markers will dry-out quickly which is why you should use pens and pencils which are much more fine pointed when sharpened well, are much stronger and easier to hold and shaped as not to roll away either. The one brand that keeps me interested in my art work are Faber-Castell Art Set of pens, pencils and markers. A brand from Germany since 1761 and four generations later still being handmade in Germany by the same family manufacturer. Something that I do appreciate in the quality of a product.                     

Second thing that may work for you as well besides putting the television on as the others which is therapeutic is listening to music and reading comics. Music is simple and easy to put on whether it be on the radio in your car, in your home or on any devise you choose to play music off of from your phone, tablet, computer with headphones or without. From your home speakers off of a record player, CD player or any other devise you have in the house that you may enjoy listening from as well as headphones and music during an exercise routine you may have. Playing your music rather load is not a problem either but it may disturb others in your house or home. It is best to be played in your own vicinity, if it is available for you to do so.

Now reading a comic may sound stupid just because most people think that they are. Many comics are not for children to read but for adults as you and me. To read something funny indeed while looking at the pictures drawn on them is simple and joyful, which is why they were made in the first place, are they not. Many movies are made from a comic as well as what makes the most money in a theater from. Many are more serious then stupid which is why I have it on list of things that you can do to become your own therapeutic reader. A DC comic may have the NEW52 logo on the top right on it or a MARVEL comic will have the MARVEL NOW! logo below it. These are the new generation of comics which are mostly more for adults to enjoy. Some of these comics have a Parental Advisory! Not for kids! logo on them and which is very true. The whole world now know who the real DEADPOOL is, and the first character comic ever created by Stan Lee, CAPTAIN AMERICA.

Graphic novels, many by Frank Miller and many others is similar to a comic but, without words, just pictures and drawings. Some are rather long, and some are short but can be more enjoyable for some who would rather look at the artwork then reading the actual novel that it came from.

Third thing that helps, as long as it does not get to out of hand with others like gambling is Card Playing. Playing with family members during the day at home is a good way to pass the time and to keep yourself seated and your mind in one place. It works well as long as nobody gets to into the yelling and angry part of it. Card Playing with your siblings, other family members and even your parents is a great help. If not play solitaire on your own if you must, but not on your phone which leads to seizures almost instantly. My own favorites to play are Poker, Black Jack and Rummy, simple games that becomes quite addicting which is not a bad thing to be addicted too, as long as you can find a partner to play along with. The classic children’s games are Old Maid, Go Fish and War, the simplest of games to play with a 52card deck as seen here. There are literally thousands of games to play from every other country with playing cards of all different types, shapes and sizes, larger ones even to be able to see the card better, if you need the help too.           

And finally back to Meditation as is the last but, most gracious thing that you can do every morning by prayer and picking up a Bible, a Weekday Missal and a Sunday Missal and start reading it day by day, whatever time you choose to. Personally I choose mornings because it just seems the right time for me or anyone suffering from a condition or not to read the Word of God everyday. And who better is it to start of your day with than God and Jesus Christ himself for the first 15minutes of your day. A daily Missal is a true use for meditation, and I have said always that if you cannot bring yourself to church every Sunday because you are afraid that something bad might happen, then bring the faith in God home to you and become your own priest and visitor. This is not condemned by God, nothing is, besides causing sinful actions to yourself or others. You do not have to read the Bible unless you choose too, but the entries in a Missal are taken from the Bible which makes it a rather easy treatment to give to yourself. This though, is recommended to be done alone, so wherever you are or with needs to give you privacy in a room and if not, use the meditation on your own behalf, however it may have to be. Not everyone follows the word of God and that’s okay too, we all make our own decisions in life but, for those who do, it’s a good way to start your day off right! Many digital versions of the Bible are available and most are for free. The King James Version has a KJV Listener's Bible with it as well, with it, since 2007 from the Fellowship for the Performing Arts which is well spoken for those who wish to listen and pay attention. The man speaking sounds a lot like Anthony Hopkins with a strong British voice, especially when speaking as the Lord God! Whoever the speaker actually is, he makes it enjoyable to listen too and fallow.

So in the end there are ways to becoming your own therapist, not to being bothered by others who may drive you crazy all day long from Art Therapy, to music and Adult Comic books, to Graphic Novels and Card Playing and in the end, Meditation. Enjoy!

WHEN GRAND MAL SEIZURES ATTACK

               On midnight of Monday, December 14th into Tuesday, the 15th was a night like no other when my Grand Mal seizures had attacked me without one break at all; only increasing in power. The Power to Kill!

                That night, all night long actually I had Grand Mal seizures in my sleep. An ongoing nightmare from hell and at 3am that night I jumped out of bed and Michelle knew right away that something was wrong as this was something that I never, ever do. She jumped out of bed as I walked to the bathroom like a zombie, and back in fine. At 7am though when Michelle woke me up as usual to get ready,  I could tell that something was not right! I tried to fight the seizures off as usual, but this day was not a usual one!

                As I walked over to the bathroom towards the sink getting ready just the same as every morning, I fell back onto the leather chair with arms for myself to keep me safe from incidents like this. I was out falling back onto the chair, Michelle helped me off as I was sliding already and laid me down on my side. Laying there for 5 minutes unable to rise Michelle quickly called my parents over. I was spitting out blood from my mouth from my bitten tongue, but not much, not yet anyway! My parents arrived, helped me up and I told them that I did not want to go back into the bedroom because I’m afraid that this time I may not wake up. I sat on the couch and thought that I was fine, for the moment. Michelle called work and said she would be working from home because she knew that this was going to be an awkward day, and was so right!

        A few minutes later another attack occurred, just the same and they called for me an ambulance as I lay there on the floor. The ambulance arrived and got me down and into the truck without any further problems, yet! Michelle and I had to persuade them into not taking me to the local hospital because we had experienced this in 2012 that they had no experience whatsoever with Epilepsy there and finally to NYU we went. Nothing happened to me on the way there thankfully because I can’t even imagine what would or could have happened. Into the ER we went and I waited there on a stretcher in the hall way and then into an oxygen sealed room in the ER when Michelle’s sister Nicole and my new sister in-law, Despina arrived. I told Michelle to go get them both from the waiting room and bring them in. I was told the next day that they had stayed the entire time that I was in misery and I really appreciated it more than they will ever know. I love them both so much!

        They escorted the four of us up to the 12th floor which is the last that I remember of them, or anybody. Including myself. I was escorted into a room, rolled off of the ER bed and onto the hospital room bed and this is when I needed to be filled in of everything that happened to me for the next 5 hours. What happened next - let’s just say I would have been shot dead or burned at the stake 100 years ago for sure. You know the saying ‘There’s a Devil living inside of you’. Well that day, the Devil came out! And by far it was THE MOST HORRIBLE DAY IN MY LIFE! A day in which I wish and pray will Never Ever Happen Again!

        For 5 hours or so the doctors, nurses and even the hospitals bodyguards were called in to try to keep me and my Grand Mal seizures under control. Well, at least they tried because they lost. My Grand Mals kept my body, not me, jumping up and smashing myself back down again onto the bed. No one was able to hold me down long enough to stick a needle in my arm, no one. Not my brother Michael or my father even who tried to give in a shot. I remember them trying to tell me to stop, slow down, stay down and I looked at the bed, side to side and the end and noticed every nurse and doctor, my own neurologist and the foot of my bed with the spookiest look I had ever seen. That time and that time only had my retarded brain not functioning well given me any memory, not that I would have wanted to remember, but my body was feeling the pain though. During this time as well my tongue had been chewed on side to side but luckily was still attached and not bitten off which can certainly happen.       

        After all of the fighting, punching and kicking with everyone trying to help, I woke up the next morning and I was confused of course. I felt like I had been shot in the head 25,000 times with bullets from every direction. I looked down on my left hand which had a needle in it and an IV. I had one on my left arm I remember, but I yanked the damn thing out, I was told. No surprise there, have done it before but not like this. I was looking around at my body, noticed some bruises on my arms and legs from trying to be held down. Bruised, but not battered. And of course 24 wires connected to my head, an EEG which I felt nothing of them doing it. An hour later Michelle arrived and hugged me tightly, happy to see that I was alive and well. She had thought that I had been lost forever. I was in such pain I remember asking her “How did they get it to stop”, Couldn’t they of just knocked me out over the head or something”. Not joking either with a straight face.

        She goes “How, they couldn’t grab you, you were too fast and strong for them” ‘Your joking with me right, you must be kidding me’ “No joke, it took a long, long time to get you to stop and a lot of medication pumped into you”.

“Well that makes sense if you say so since I’m a bit bruised up here and there and my tongue hurts too, I’m guessing I’ll definitely be here the rest of the week” and I was until that Saturday. ‘Yeah well you chewed on it a bit and they called in for help, but you kept pushing them away and they kept saying that you're too strong for them’.

        That made me giggle a bit and I said “Well lets pray that that never happens again”. Michelle stayed with me the rest of that day and laid in bed with me too, filling me in with more info and talking to the doctors. Told me that Michael ran out of the room angry, devastated as everyone was, and punched the wall saying “Why is this happening”. My family had never seen something like this before. My parents came to visit me that Wednesday too and my father saw me there on the bed, okay and all and laughing saying “They had a hard time holding you down, you kept breaking away from their grip” ‘Okay dad, I never want to be reminded of that day ever again, no matter how crazy it was, let’s just be happy that I’m still here okay’. I had other visits throughout the week and phone calls on a hospital phone I asked for from family and friends. For two weeks I had stayed off of my computer and cell phone still till today.

        I was so frightened that I almost cut my cell phone out forever because I know more than most the problems they cause. Computers as well, but I kept that more under control with being timed on how long I stay on one. Wednesday I was looking at my tongue with Michelle’s phone and we noticed that amazingly it was healing and quickly too. I had no medication for my tongue, if there even is anything for a tongue unless you bit it in half.

       Michelle had brought me a book because she knows me well, but this sweet lady, not a doctor or nurse even, but was more like a nun who worked for the hospital, yet not dressed like one, had said a prayer for me, with me, for my aunt that passed away the day before. I was sad that I missed the wake and funeral from being trapped on a bed in a hospital. The next day, the same woman visited me with a Bible in her arm which I was eyeing, but another patient had asked for it and yet, she offered it to me, but I told her that I couldn’t possibly take it since another patient had asked for it. Even so, she still noticed me eyeing it and said to me that the hospital had plenty of them, so I thanked her gracefully. It seemed though after reading it - the nurses, male and female, started looking at me and asking me as well what my favorite part was of the Gospels - Matthew I told them; my favorite disciple of Christ. It seemed to me that they had been shocked that a patient, a young one, was reading a Bible. Makes everyone smile more. I truly believe that Jesus Christ is with us always I told them and that I am a better man for it.   

        Some things though do happen for a reason, everything in life has a purpose I believe. And Tuesday was no different. Already I am on Onfi, Fycompa and Aptiom. My neurologist put me on Dilantin Wednesday and an Italian neurologist who I had just met for the first time did a study in Rome on a few Epileptics and found that Prozac, although primarily used for depression, which I am not, works well for seizures. Since I have already tried every medication already how could it hurt. So I said yes along with the four others throughout the day, morning to night. Prozac is taken just once in the morning. All three of these meds combined; and I think that the Prozac is the key medication in the large dose of meds every day that I have been on for years. Since starting the Dilantin again as I did when I was young along with the Prozac my falling has slowed. This is no cure because there isn’t one at all, but finding the right doses of meds can keep an Epileptic, like myself Under Control! PROZAC who knew right!

        I always believed that something has to work, something was missing or not found yet to keep my brain waves calm. But this neurologist had an idea, an awesome idea that just possibly a pill for depression which has been around for years could be the key drug for Epilepsy, combined with others.          

SAFTY TIPS EVERY EPILEPTIC SHOULD FOLLOW

      Let’s Begin with Safety at Home

 The most common and dangerous place for Epileptics caused by seizure-related accidents. I myself have fallen in every single room from my own home to my parent’s much less enjoyable house I’m trapped in working though from the first floor, second or basement attached to the garage which is every families most dangerous part of the house. Cars, tools, lawn- mowers and such with blades on them to rip any ones face apart God forbid they fall on them. Very stupidly I came close recently on my cell phone because our basement for some reason gets no service, the call that came in was important yet myself more therefore do not do anything as stupid!

The first thing though you should know how to is the bathroom on how to take precautions, everything here I have done already and has helped me stay safe, mostly at home yet the house is not, it’s not mine to make safe yet is small enough to keep me in one spot or two. It’s odd but true but bathroom mirrors in front of sinks cause seizures when looked into which is why 90% of the time my hands get dried off on myself on the floor against the door. I look quick and then put my head down as I finish, tends to work well besides looking like a zombie into the mirror. Fallow these tips and you will do better keeping yourself safer in the most dangerous because of the most commonly used part of the house.     

To Give Some Privacy

 Place an occupied sign on the bathroom door instead of locking it. In your own home/apartment do not even close the door.

Hang the bathroom door so that it swings outward (into the hall or bedroom).  This prevents the door from being blocked if a person falls during a seizure. 

I would prefer that the door swings inward and closes behind you so that if you do fall against it you will not end up falling into the hallway behind you injuring yourself or anyone else so keep that rule switched around. It may work as is said in a much bigger hallways where it is safer to fall but I still would not prefer it.

Sing in the shower so people know you’re okay. If you don’t have any one to watch you or do not choose to then sing your heart out, just do not hurt yourself doing it by thinking to hardly.

Take showers instead of baths. This is a good tip and if you have bath-tubs in the house have one taken out for you and replaced with a stand-up shower, chair and curtain, no glass doors. This is very necessary from drop-attacks (Atomic seizures).  

Make sure shower and bath drains work properly so water doesn’t build up. Basically you don’t want to drown in a bath-tub, this is true for children mostly not being watched! 

Keep water temperature low to avoid burns. This is true for everyone bathing or showering as well as nonskid strips. Some showers have these built into them and work very well.

Use Tub Rods or Grab Bars

These bars I have put myself in as well and it helps me in getting in, sitting and becomes useful in having somewhere to hang my shower head while I am seated using my shampoo and soap. Outside of the shower I placed one onto the wall near the toilet bowl to grab onto the help with the rising or walking in long and wide bathrooms. This works well for everyone.

                               GENERAL HOME SAFETY TIPS

Sleep Deprivation and Stress

Two of the most major factors that cause seizures. If a shorter than 8 hour sleep is your sleep-habit then I strongly recommend you taking a nap for 1-3hrs a day at any given time that your body needs to shut down for a bit, you will know when. Don’t have someone tell you that it is time for a nap when you know that it’s not, will just make you more aggravated with them and yourself and seizures will occur. Some of us cannot close our eyes at times when we do not choose too and you will find yourself fighting them off and it just will not work for you that way so tell the person annoying you that now is not the time. Stress more than sleep deprivation will cause you to have a very hateful relationship with everyone in your life including your parents, family, friends and your personal relationship with your husband or wife. If you can figure out these issues in your lives and others not that they are always our fault because many families and husbands or wives especially cannot always deal with the flaws of an Epileptic or whatever you may be. Schooling is a problem and not a stress-free environment either. This is something that should be shared for all who have struggles with work especially and cannot get over the job that they hate and end up bringing their work home. That can make the most stress of all!

Daily Activities

For working Epileptics you are lucky to be still working, walking, talking to friends, going to the gymnasium and such as I did years ago and it was a much better then now life by experience you can say. However the possibilities of a more normal controlled life for an Epileptic is not as difficult as it may seem for some. For one as I told my own brothers when they asked me how I still get my work-outs in. I explained, with high tension exercise bands by Black Mountain for men and women for all types of performance. From yellow 2-4lbs for woman to 45-50 and 70-75 Purple and Atomic, which I use for every different type of exercise either standing for upper body work-outs to sitting for lower body work-outs keeping my legs strong from just sitting here all day long I told him. It’s simple to do and use as well as a rolling ball Perfect Fitness Ab Carver Pro by Perfect Fitness to complete my 40min work-out along with a daily protein shake which keeps me in pretty good shape for every third day. There isn’t anything wrong with a twice a week work-out compared to his everyday work-out. These products come with Door Anchors if needed, a Starter Guide and Videos on line. Go to amazon!

Do not use the most dangerous for an Epileptic to use, dumbbells, bar bells on a flat bench with or without a spotter for protection, medicine balls and cement kettlebells is okay for the normal exercising person, but not for us. I used to us some of these equipment’s in the past, those days are over and I am a smarter man now for it. 

Daily walks for 20mins a day helps or if not like me, get yourself if there is space a stationary bike to site and grab onto for the falling. I use a Schwinn digital bike and tells me everything I need to now about how far I biked which is distance, calories I burned, my miles per hour, heart rate by handle and many other routine work-outs. As far as anything else goes in my daily activity life, it doesn’t. Unless if you think that staying and typing behind this computer for you is an activity then I suppose so.    

Use an Electric Razor to Avoid Cuts

This is a very good safety tip because we Epileptics know that a seizure can easily slice off the wrong part of any body part, easily an earlobe, nose or throat which can cause death for men as well as legs for women. The number one option is for the use of a Phillips Norelco electric razor for both men and women and can be used in or out of the shower. It is simple and doesn’t require any shaving cream, just a clean and dry warm face or legs. You spin the razor not up and down, but in a round counter clockwise motion with 3 shaving heads each pulling the hear up and collecting all of the remains. There is rarely any bleeding if it is done right and a cleaning machine which collects all of the remains with it’s soap compartment and drying off mechanism as well, ready for the next shave. This is done by me seated on a white leather chair with a back and arms in front of a 6-inch vanity mirror, round and lite up and swivels around at 8x greater magnification.

Avoid Glass Tables

Anything from a large dining room table to a family room coffee table can be very dangerous to be around. The chairs of this or any table are very easy to slide off of so for that matter buy yourself or just use a chair with arms that one may have, sturdy! Fake wooden chairs made from compressed wood chips by cheap manufactures are very easy to break by anyone sitting on them, table as well.

Avoid Scatter Rugs

Wall-to-wall carpeting or soft flooring may reduce injuries for individuals who fall. Wall-to-wall carpeting is not as popular from the 1960’s, 70’s and 80’s so large rugs in rooms where falls occurred most with floor padding underneath along with floor runners in hallways can be very helpful. I fall in all rooms from kitchens to Living rooms and bedrooms with floor runners and a large micro-fiber memory foam rug in the bathroom all work well in keeping me safe.    

Use Protective or Padded Covers

On faucet handles, nozzles, or the edges of countertops to help cushion falls and reduce injuries. This is very helpful technique, every corner in my home, every piece of furniture is padded and my entire bathroom as well. The padding comes in large rolls which can be cut as needed and corner pieces comes as ordered.  

Use covers or enclosed heating units or radiators. A floor unit I have covered with the same padding because where the unit is covered from side to side and the center where the cover splits and is covered can still cause problems from falling individuals like myself. Before we covered mine I fell right onto it cutting my ear pretty nicely but not deep.  

Electrical equipment such as hair dryers or razors should be used away from any water source. This is not just a tip for Epileptics but for everybody!

Secure Televisions, Computers or Other Things That Could Fall off Tables

Televisions can be kept far from you on a wall in a kitchen or on a wall unit in a family room or in the corner of any bedroom on a stand away from yourself or others. Computers, phones, books and such as plates, cups and utensils are things that I can only say good luck to you because there aren’t any tips I can give other than that. Things fall all of the time, just hope that it doesn’t break or get lost and isn’t too expensive, as a computer. One tip, don’t place your computer in front of you on a folding coffee table because it will get knocked off by kicking it more than once so for that a sturdy table or desk will work better if need be.    

Use Fireplace Screens at All Times

Yes fireplace screens are necessary at all times for everyone especially with children. Open flame fireplaces are fun to have hearing the wood crack but sparks fly out of them, even from fake wood starters placed underneath dry wood to lite them. Sitting on fireplace ledge is not a good idea either for anyone. I know myself about these open flames because I had them in the past yet, my mother very stupidly had set her shirt on fire by sitting next to one in the past. She is fine, we put it out before it caused any serious burns! Now about electric fireplaces my parents have through two rooms, centered on each side with glass screens can be seen through either as a pretty fake burning image or with heat out of the bottom of them into each room, but the heat can build up quit quickly so we don’t put it on. These glass screens though can be fallen into as well which I did myself sitting in front of them on the ledge while I was petting Sammy, no damage was caused there but gets my parents crazy by sitting there whenever so I don’t.

Avoid Clutter in Rooms

Also look around and make sure there is room to fall safely. This is something I see more that would cause problems for the clumsy, girls, the young and older who seem to bump into everything in their way with legs in such pain they don’t know how it happened. Sad but true. We have no clutter in our open rooms, not hoarders, just things to bump into with sharp corners around bad for children to smack into and myself.  

Have an Enclosed Yard

for children to play and prevent wandering during a seizure. This is a funny, but true story so yes enclose the yard for all children. A couple a years ago in my uncle’s yard up on a hill in Manhasset fenced in the back so that we can play and not lose anything or fall off of down the hill rolling onto a street. But while playing volley ball in the summer I was told this by my family laughing. They said as I was sitting at the table, “Bruno” ‘Yeah what’s up’ “Do you see that hole there in the fence” ‘Yeah’ “well that’s from you when you were playing there running, falling and ramming you head down into it”.

End of Story.

Have a way to call for help if you are alone. Look into alarm systems, medical alerts and other safety devices! If you need help with any of this, give me a call, you all have my number or email me.