Lanterns in the Dark: An Unplanned Health Update- ER Trip Edition

Trigger Warning

This post contains discussion of seizures, emergency medical care, loss of consciousness, and hospitalization. Please take care of yourself while reading.

Welcome Back to the Cryptid’s Den

Welcome back to The Crippled Cryptid, where disability, chronic illness, service dogs, and everyday sorcery all mingle under the same soft lamp like friendly ghosts sharing stories.

If you’re new here:

Hi. I’m Sky.

• Professional cryptid.
• Amateur cyborg.
• Medically interesting enough to make half my providers sigh dramatically when they open my chart.
• Currently inhabiting a haunted meat-suit with a questionable warranty.

If you’re returning:

Welcome home.

If you’re new here:

Welcome.

Either way, pull up a seat, get comfortable… and settle in.

A Missed Takeover and a Very Good Dog

First and foremost, I owe you an apology for missing Luna’s takeover yesterday.

She’s very sorry. Truly.

She had Very Important™ service dingo duties to perform, and yesterday made something very clear to me: I still have a lot to learn about listening to her. But it also confirmed, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that this is exactly what she was born to do.

All day yesterday, Luna was glued to me. If you’ve ever heard the phrase white on rice, you understand the level of commitment here. From the moment M&M and I got up and made coffee, Luna would not leave my side.

At first, I assumed she was alerting to an incoming migraine. If you’ve been watching Illinois weather, you know we’re under a cold weather advisory, with snow on the way. Weather like this and migraines are old, unpleasant friends.

What I wasn’t expecting was a seizure.

When It Happened

It happened again.

This time, I was home.

I’d just received some stressful news. When I went to talk to M&M about it, I blacked out and went down like a sack of potatoes.

Luna was there the entire time. Even when I wasn’t.

I don’t remember how I went from standing, phone in hand, talking to my partner… to staring up at the ceiling, cold, disoriented, and in pain. That gap is still gone.

Everything still hurts today.

Being upright hurts. Standing hurts. Even thinking hurts. Light sensitivity, headaches, and the general brain fog are all part of the post-seizure haze, but knowing why doesn’t make it any easier to live in.

The People Who Held Me Up

While I was gone, M&M was fully present.

She saw me swaying. She saw me start to go down. She safely lowered me to the ground so my head wouldn’t hit the floor like it did during the first seizure. She got a pillow under my head and immediately called 9-1-1.

She also called the Yard Yeti.

Both came to help me.

The Yard Yeti heard that I was cold and put a blanket over me while M&M stayed with me. The paramedics arrived soon after. Luna, understandably, had no idea what was happening. She’s never seen paramedics before.

Then M&M and I were off to Condell Hospital.

The ER, Briefly

Once there, things moved quickly.

After I specified that I needed an ultrasound IV thanks to past ER adventures, my nurse Brian was an absolute godsend. He got it on the first try, with zero pain. Even if he did have to take what felt like a lot of blood.

The doctor was wonderful too. He introduced himself to both M&M and me, explained everything clearly, and decided not to put me through another CT since I’d just had one recently.

Instead, we did:

• Bloodwork
• An EKG
• And the decision to start anti-seizure medication immediately

Even knowing that I have a neurology appointment on Monday, he wanted something in place to get me there safely, since these episodes are becoming more frequent. No one wants that sentence to be true, but here we are.

I was only there a couple of hours, and I’m incredibly grateful for the friend who came to get us so we didn’t have to Uber home. Our recent Uber experiences have been… consistently terrible.

Less terrible, but still unpleasant: the second nurse who removed my IV far too roughly and blew out my vein. Today I’m sporting a truly impressive bruise as a souvenir.

Home Is a Dog-Shaped Word

You cannot imagine how happy I was to get home to Luna.

She practically tackled me the moment I walked through the door. From there, she refused to leave my side. The Yard Yeti helped me downstairs and made sure I got into bed and stayed far away from this writing desk.

Luna immediately hopped up, curled into my legs, licked my face, and started doing deep pressure therapy while M&M made grilled cheese sandwiches for everyone.

It wasn’t the homemade mac and cheese I’d planned to make for dinner, but apparently my body had other, more dramatic plans.

The Aftermath

This new medication makes me incredibly tired. I got the first dose at the hospital, and since then M&M has basically been threatening me with a stick to make sure I eat.

Apparently, lack of appetite is another fun side effect.

She’s upstairs right now making me a bowl of creamy chicken ramen, because she is, objectively, the best. I don’t know what I’d do without her, and I clearly need to write more M&M appreciation posts.

Emotionally, I’m still struggling with the image of EMTs standing over me in my own basement. That one is sticking around longer than I’d like.

Plans for today are intentionally gentle:

• Watching Pluribus on Apple TV+ from bed with my favorite person, and everyone’s favorite Service Dingo.
• Maybe making that mac and cheese if I stop feeling like a zombie
• Possibly building our gingerbread house if the room decides to stop spinning every time I sit up.

Closing the Circle

This isn’t the post I planned to write. I wanted to tell you about my cardiologist appointment on the 11th. Instead, you’re getting an unwanted ER adventure.

We’ll save that story for another day.

Written quickly from my antique rolltop desk, coffee gone, Luna curled at my side, I leave this here as a record. A guide. A lantern for anyone walking the same shadows.

© The Crippled Cryptid– Disability, honesty, and a little chaos.

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