The Return To Innocence

FYI! Got my brain CD. The neurologist couldn't find anything out of the ordinary that was not already abnormal, etc. So I went and got the CD with my MRI and brought it home, and Adam turned it into a Power Point presentation. I wish so much I knew what to really see, that I could see with a neuroscientist's eyes. I can see my butterfly's broken wings. And the thinning of the corpus callosum.

Let me see if I can copy from the paperwork...

Abnormal dilation of both lateral ventricles with an asymmetric area of dilation along the mid body of the right lateral ventricle. Waviness and distortion of the lateral ventricular margins bilaterally. Dilatation of the third ventricle. Partial absence of the septum pellucidum. Generalized thinning of the corpus callosum which appears grossly intact. These findings likely represent developmental anomalies of the brain; however, these findings could also represent the sequela of in utero ischemia and periventricular leukomalacia. There is no evidence of focal abnormality of the temporal lobes.

Ahh, science. *basking in words*

Now, however... I am still irritated about the lack of EEG response. They tell me I was born with epilepsy - and there is the physical evidence in my brain creature right there. However, I feel... I suppose silly is the word. This may not be an ordinary kind of epilepsy where electrical activity shows up on EEGs. But... but that doesn't necessarily mean anything. I guess. I just sometimes wonder, that's all.

This afternoon saw my session of physical therapy until I see the physiatrist next month. For now, all the alignment exercises have done very well. I will do them for the rest of my life. They're not only extremely gentle but extremely soothing. I could probably use them to combat anxiety a little. This pleases me.

I've been packing my laptop bag and a toiletries bag. I'll pack a change of clothes. Ten hours with electrodes on my head will be fascinating. Note to self: bring the leopard plushie. Maybe the dolphin too.

When I spoke to the technician from the EEG unit a little bit ago, I was told to get less than my normal sleep time, which is generally nine to twelve hours. I'll aim for six to seven.
I was told to come in tired, so that my brain would be more susceptible. This actually matched the stuff my neurologist told me.

It is very interesting to note that an online fight rarely triggers my epilepsy. It turns out that if the fight comes out of nowhere and makes no sense, I become bored and stop paying attention until something of interest happens.
Maybe I should wander into some random forum filled with concern trolls who are insisting that groups of invisible people are on their sides. Those sometimes make me twitch.

But, since my main triggers are fatigue, emotional excitement bad or good, fear, and probably other similar things, I might decide to watch a scary movie and not get enough sleep and maybe go online and read about, I dunno, for example... trolls treating autistics like not-people. That's good for some rage anxiety.

I I just finished Gaiman's The Ocean At The End Of The Lane. It was surrealist and psychological enough to guarantee interesting dreams. I may bring it to the medical building to read again along with the other books.

I think the most recent seizure was at least two days ago.That might explain why I feel bored, puzzled, and amused in a lab study way about stuff going on around Facebook and comic forums and other bloggery type websites I follow (I don't even touch Twitter).

Currently, I am feeling like an alien watching humans throwing random petty tantrums for no actual reasons. I guess they weren't getting the results they wanted.

Keep on being fascinating, internet.

Um. So.
Last night I had a small seizure - awake but barely conscious. And the baby migraine kept pulsating. I forced myself to sleep. I woke up at noon with the migraine even worse. And the thunder rolled.

The seizure itself was pitch black. It had me moving through a completely moon-less woods, holding the hands of two people - Alicia and Ananta - and stumbling over things, which transferred agony into my skull. I was shaking. They kept saying, Just a little more, just ahead, it's a rose light, you'll recognize it...
And there it was like a rosy mist with light inside. At the last minute, Ananta picked me up and carried me directly into the mist. That is all I remember.

I wound up staying in bed for an hour, because Calliope kept vocalizing, nuzzling and bunting me, and settling in to nurse on my shirt. I know she loves me deeply, but I must ask the cat behaviorists here what it means to be truly, actually loved by your cat, because Calliope will not go to bed until I go to bed, Calliope will follow me around the house, Calliope will check on me just to make sure I exist.

After I fell out of bed and took my medications (baclofen, tramadol, codeine, coffee, omega-3, MSM, L-Tyrosine, probiotics, inositol, shilajit, ashwagandha, noni, mangosteen, devil's claw, magnesium oil massaged into the severe stiff burning screaming lower back).

I am not fooled. I may be upright, typing. But I am having moments in which I need to breathe, collapse in the chair and massage my head. This will be a very interesting afternoon. Luckily, I have DVRed Archer, Bitten, Being Human, Lost Girl, etc. Just in case.
Is it sad that I want Ray and Lana to be my nursemaids?

According to Adam, there were two seizure incidents. The first, during foreplay, was a complex partial, from which he had me rest for a while. the second, after the sex was well over and while I was heading toward the bathroom to fill a water bottle, was a secondary generalized seizure, in which I cried out, fell to the floor on my side, and started twitching. Adam heard me and hurried out from the bedroom. He gently moved me onto my back to better look at me, and he stroked my face until I gasped like a drowning person and started sobbing and apologizing. I remember that part.
I also remember the part where Luna came meowing and rubbing against me, licking my face and purring loudly. I said to her, "You're late. But thank you for the comfort." And Calliope came running to me, purring and trilling, but Luna rebuffed her. Calliope was undeterred, because she is generally unfazed. She still stayed close by and stared at me.
I still count Luna as an emotional support cat, even when she arrives after the fact.
I wish I could remember Being Alice. Obviously both times Alicia helped me through. I just can't remember.
Adam said that the first time left me with a severe palsy accent, a stutter, and a complete inability to move my left arm and leg without forcing myself - seeing as how I am mild, this always freaks me out, even though I've gotten used to it. The second time, I cried and spasmed, but was able to respond and move. My left wrist hurts stabbily and achingly from the damn flexion contracture. Both that and the other issues are usually mild but always worsen during severe fatigue, seizure episodes, severe moments of pain, and overstimulation - which, as Lana Kane says, duh, of course happened. My brain hurts. Screw it, my everything hurts and I'm still spastic. I'm going to bed.
It is wonderful to have my husband home, even for a few days.

Seizure happened in the kitchen. Jupiter meowed and rubbed against me while I crouched. Adam came in and gently lay me on the floor. My eyes were open and blank. Adam touched my face and reached for my mind, and I spasmed and gasped and blinked. I asked why I was on the floor. Adam helped me up and stood me against the large freezer. My memory is swirling. Alicia is holding me. Earlier, Adam said he told his boss, a fellow animal lover, that he needed an extra day to care for his wife. I rolled my eyes and said that was not necessary; that I was fine. Never mind. It was so dark and so white equally braided as order and chaos magics. I was spinning at ninety-nine percent light speed and thirty-five miles an hour. The world was elsewhere. A few seconds lasted a thousand years. Adam suggested I go upstairs and rest. Jupiter is suggesting a cuddle. I am thinking coffee and clonazepam and baclofen. I am made of light and love and pure order-chaos magic in its simplest form. I can give myself the right strength. May be that I can regenerate. As brightly and intensely as a Time Lord. I always shine enough for everyone.

Also, I think I had a seizure before waking up this morning. When I spoke with my mother, she said I sounded like I'd had a seizure. I am starting to... remember things. My brain feels haunted and full of kaleidoscope wilderness. I vaguely recall seeing Alicia. I vaguely recall seeing Amara, the way they struggled to keep my neurology stable. Amara, pale like alabaster, kept changing her eye and hair colors so I knew she was emotional.
I need to go do... the... you know, the post-seizure, the postictal things, the management, the getting better procedures. It has been a long long mind day. I did not know why I have been so tired. Luna in particular has been following me around, meowling like a queen calling her kitten. She has been licking me whenever she gets close. In that same vein, Rose has been trilling for my attention when I come into the bedroom, staring at me with very wide eyes. She begs me to pet and hug her, and now I realize why. Even Jupiter has been yowing at me when he sees me.
Luna is curled up at my feet now. When I go to have a shower, I will leave the bathroom door open just enough for her to come in, in case she wants to watch me.
Cats know. Cats always know.

I've been feeling randomly ill all day with fibromyalgia flares and allergies. And, now that I remember, seizure aftereffects.

Note: Seizure.
Dreamstate. Melting clocks, supernovas, galaxies whirling like pinwheels.
The looking glass shattered when I fell through. Alicia my guide held me tight and whispered, hoarsely, "Those hands of time and space will not move unless you stop watching."
The melting clocks began to burn.
Alicia was screaming for Amara to come get me. Wonderland looked like a rainforest on LSD.
Amara slid her cool hand into mine and said, "Neurology is hell, and then you live."
I was wrapped in a silk cocoon, shoved through a broken cracked pathway of shorted neurons and synapses. Amara was with me. When we broke through, I heard Serena say, "I'll take her now. Thank you, sister." And I heard a kitten purring so loudly it made me vibrate, and I felt pure comfort. I managed to mumble, "I need Amber to wrap me in safe." But it had already been done.
I love my spirit guardians, also known as my human-shaped coping mechanisms, also known as my creations with minds of their own, also known as awesome psychological methods.

In a discussion with Naamah yesterday, she referred to me as "so inscrutable zen-master... really at peace with the fact that sometimes, things don't make sense... and don't need to." I used to quote Chang Tzu without knowing it was Chang Tzu: "Use understanding to understand what can be understood with understanding, and then stop." and when people asked, "Wait, how many 'understandings' are in there?" I would reply, "Yes, exactly."
And so Naamah suggested that if Serena had a companion, it would have to be a little koi-colored calico cat named Koan. Today, my mind remembered that and ran with it, constructing a six-month-old calico kitten with koi patterning, named Koan. And she will be infinitely gentle, patient, and a deep lover of head-butts, cheek nuzzling, face licking, lap sleeping, and Being There When I Need Her.


I'm back in reality. I must rest now. Hi. I believe the seizure lasted approximately two minutes. I can type, with exhaustion, but reading is becoming fatiguing. I will do things to recover. Yes.

You know it is a bad day when...

A Cerebral Palsy induced fall against carpeted stairs leads to a Complex Partial Seizure which leads to a Panic Attack with wild animal sobbing so intense your partner comes up and worries to death over you and carefully leads you to a couch and gives you water and holds you.

"It's just stairs," you tell yourself over and over. "You can maneuver them. It's just stairs." And at the top, exhausted by victory, you lay on the floor, weak as a new kitten, heart and head pounding to near bursting, crying until it sounds like laughing. And maybe all you can do in that horrific posictal state is laugh. On the inside. Because Epilepsy is a monster and has no qualms about gaining allies.
Now it is time for Fibromyalgia to have its turn. Burn body burn.

I am so tired. I have no more synonyms for exhausted, fatigued, beaten, weakened. I am done.
But I will never stop. If I cannot be myself I will be a dragon.

For those who know my Healthy Multiplicity: indeed, Alicia and Amara were like drill sergeants in my mind. They were the only things that kept me climbing those mountainous stairs. I love my human coping mechanisms.
Typing doesn't make me tired ever. And this must be written.



So... *cough*
I am okay. But I am not okay at all. So many painful things are inside my brain and my body.
It is okay to talk about that, right? To be not okay? To try to pretend to be okay?
See, that is why I love online friendships. Because if I cannot speak without bursting into stuttering wild sobbing, I can type slowly and people will understand. Right? Oh, my everything hurts.
I could say I have a muscle pain, or a joint pain, or a migraine... but I have everything pain everywhere. And I don't know how to explain it without it coming across as "My pain is worse than yours!" and I don't want to do that. Because all pain is horrible. My pain is no worse than yours. Pain is pain is pain.
I don't know what to say. My brain is so everywhere. I feel so split open and raw and drifting. I think some of the things keeping me together are my fictional characters, who still demand their stories.
I want to sob and scream and howl until I am so raw that I cannot speak. Is that okay? I can do that, right? Nobody will bitch at me for complaining, right? I just don't know. I don't know what to do. I don't know how to feel. Fear is something that feels flat but understandable. Like am emotion I am aware of but unable to truly experience in a deep true way. Like crying. It is a thing that is happening. I just feel confused. Why do I feel?
You know?

Oh, yes. The seizure. Oh, Alicia. She appeared to me so quickly, so fiercely, I had no choice but to grab her outstretched hand and run with her. She yelled, "Come with me now! You need to get through the looking glass! There is no time! Amara is waiting! Serena is waiting! Go, go, go!" and she almost shoved me through the portal, and all I remember is Amara catching me in her arms... Amara with her truly calico hair and her stormy eyes of deep purple and darkest blue and pure gold, her short slim muscled hourglass body that held me in an iron grip, my mouth against her olive-colored neck, and our tumble to a cavern floor that was lit with sunlight and moonlight, so I could see her properly, how she was only a few inches taller than me, her mouth pouty and full, her oval face the dream of every American woman in a plastic surgeon's office, her straight teeth bared in strain. She got to her feet gracefully and looked down at me and said in the voice of temple bells, "Rest now. Serena will be here soon. I've never fully introduced myself, but that can wait. We have so much time."
I shook my head. "Alicia said there was no time--"
Amara smiled and entranced me. "Only in her dimension. Here, there is every time. I am everlasting, after all. I love and guard your entire mind and brain, remember? I work with my sister, Amber, who encases everything in your varied forms of spirit and soul and energy and power. Alicia and Serena are limited. Amber and I are unlimited. We shall be with you until the end of everything. You hurt badly. I sense it. Serena will be here in a moment. I will stay with you."
I stared at her. "I've never known you until now. I love you."
"Yes. You were meant to. I am the culmination of your neurology, your neurochemistry, your biochemistry, the stuff in your head that help make you the things that are you. A Self. A Mind. A Brain. I change as you need to change. I will always be here."
Amara my immortal began to slowly fade, and Serena came running. She gathered me in her arms and murmured soothing words, and suddenly I felt as calm and as safe as I ever could.
And then I awoke, and I was a person climbing the stairs.
And I climbed the stairs, sobbing and forcing myself, and at the top of the stairs I lay crying, and then my husband found me and helped me to my work couch and gave me water, and I couldn't talk about my girls, but it was all right. I would be all right.

Call me Courage.
It takes a lot of strength to talk about life like this.

So, I just "woke up" splayed uncomfortably in my comfortable leather task chair, head lolled to the right, mouth open and drooling, left side full of hemiplegic hypertonic hemiparesis, right side spasming in its own way, brain stuffed with cotton, voices inside me screaming "GET UP, GET UP, OPEN YOUR EYES, DO IT NOW. JOANNA! WAKE UP!" Voices I recognized as Alicia, Serena, Amara, and Amber - all four of my spirit guides, aka healthy multiplicity selves, aka characters I created long ago that took on lives of their own deep inside my damaged brain. I have never, ever heard them in chorus. I felt something like a massive SHOVE - very similar to a hypnic jerk, which is actually extremely common during testings for epilepsy. Hypnic jerks, also known as hypnogogic jerks, night starts, and sleep starts, are those weird sensations you get between deep sleep and waking when you suddenly feel as though you have fallen onto your own bed from high above.
There was no panic in those cries, simply intensity. They were all desperate to bring me around. See, Alicia is the one who guides me through the seizures and brings me to Serena, who guides me though the pain. If needed, Amara steps forth to ease the anxiety, panic, and fear. And although Amber has kept silent and hidden for decades, Amber is the one who soothes my entire soul and my entire consciousness with a blend of magics and quantum physics that I still cannot translate into common words. However, they have always been separate and individual. The only ones who have ever communicated in any way have been Alicia and Serena, if only to pass me between each other with nods and whispers.
And so I awoke, or came out of the seizure, twisted and deeply exhausted from cerebral palsy complexities, compounded by fibromyalgia, sensory processing disorder, synesthesia, and hypersensitivity. For several agonizing moments, I did not know where I was - and the only reason I knew my own self was because the Guides poured all my memories quickly into my mind, into the live, non-damaged bits of my brain. I know that doesn't make any real medical neurological sense, but I cannot explain it any other way. The only reason I am typing this up is because my hands are moving of their own accord. I have a silly feeling that Serena and Amber might be helping me. Keep in mind that these women are not "real" - they are fictional characters. And they know it. But they are parts of my mind and have always been. I am still wracked with deep anxiety, and Amara is wrapping me in the most comforting... things? Images and sensations of fabrics. Ideas of beautiful imagery? Tiny mewling soft kittens happy and adored and warm? Anything to keep me calm and happy and anything to keep me from breaking down in screaming tears. I can feel an episode of clinical major depression creeping up on me.
And I still do not know why any of this is happening. I have lost small memories of today. I do not mourn them too much. I just want to feel better.
Can someone tell me a story, please? Any kind of story?