A Medical Scare

 For a long time, Andy has been complaining of feeling "foggy".  A really long time. As in years. (Yes, TOTAL Mom fail.) I have always taken Andy's concern and brushed it off to him being spacey. He has always had a wandering mind and has had trouble remembering things. I think the phrase, "Get your head out of the clouds", was created for people like Andy. I don't consider this to necessarily be a bad trait. Andy has one of the best imaginations I know (Elizabeth is a close second).  He is creative and brilliant in his own way. I sometimes wish I could escape to the worlds he can (and always has been able to) with the ease he seems to. I admire that about him. 

But as time has gone on his fogginess has increased. It began to scare him, I think. He tried diet and exercise with limited success. He tried different things to get a better night's sleep, also to no avail. He was hoping that his memory issues and foggy feeling were lifestyle related. I wanted to believe that too. Very badly. 

The medical issues all came front and center when Andy had a seizure on August 29th. We were on date, it was the first time in a while that just he and I had a chance to get out. We were at the Olive Garden (which was the first time I had been to a restaurant before COVID) and I noticed as our conversation progressed through lunch that something was not right with Andy. He seemed to space out more and more. He was having trouble keeping up with our conversation and had trouble forming words to answer questions that I had. And then all of a sudden, just like with Sarah, the essence of Andy was no longer there. I was looking at his body, but he was not there. I was trying not to attract too much attention to ourselves. The tables were spaced very far apart, so I feel like, at first anyway, I was able to keep what what happening a secret. Once Andy's left arm began to shake though and repeated attempts to bring him back to me by calmly calling his name, I knew we were in trouble. Our waitress called 911 for us and paramedics brought Andy to the ER. 

He had come to by the time the paramedics arrived, but still could not form sentences or answer any of their questions other than his first name. I was not able to go back and see Andy right away in the hospital. After what seemed like an eternity, I was finally released from the sectioned off waiting room to go back to him. A CAT scan and blood work were drawn. His blood sugar levels were tested and came back good. He was drug tested (negative). He had an x-ray just to make sure that his lungs were okay. (He punctured the same lung twice in the last 18 months). Finally, we were sent home with no diagnosis other than being told that sometimes seizures just happen (I am not buying that) and that he should go see a neurologist to have an MRI and EEG given our family history to make sure that it is not something more serious. 

We believe that there is a connection with the fogginess he feels and his memory issues and the seizure he had. We aren't sure what that connection is, but we feel that there is definitely something going on other than a random seizure. (Oh, and he has been complaining for a while that his sense of smell is lost. Before you  think COVID - he been mentioning this for years as well.) 

We went to see his regular doctor to have a ton of blood work drawn and are waiting to see the neurologist on the 30th of September. He was tested for Celiac Disease, food allergies, diabetes, kidney function, liver function. He had his iron, B12, B6 levels checked as well. All came back clean/good. To be honest, we were disappointed in this because we were hoping that whatever is going on with him would be discovered in his blood work so that we can work on fixing it. For now, we have to wait and see what the neurologist says. 

In the meantime, we are following normal seizure protocol. No driving for Andy, no baths, and if he feels "off" to have him take a break until he feels right again. He has also been keeping a log of his sleep habits, diet habits, and exercise. He notes when he feels an increase in his fogginess in hopes that this journal will reveal something to the neurologist. 

For now, we are just waiting for answers.