Damn Lucky

Satomi had another seizure today while she walked across our family room toward the dinner table. 

Her Mom was helping her and I was in the kitchen.  I was surprised and upset that I wasn’t informed about her moving downstairs.  That became a secondary issue when I saw Satomi’s knees start to wobble.  These last few days I’ve learned that it’s the first obvious sign that she’s about to collapse.  Her Mom didn’t have the position nor the strength to catch her so I ran over and grabbed Satomi’s safety belt which I am very happy to report that she was actually wearing.

The belt is actually Satomi’s “gait belt” from her PT days.  It is intended to be a secure hand hold to perform patient transfers or to provide some measure of safety for unstable patients walking.  It is not designed to support a patients weight.  In this regard, it is really is a useless device. 

After grabbing her, Satomi quickly proceeded to slide down through the belt until it was stopped by her arms.  I’m sure it would have been very painful if she had been conscious.

Limp weight is impossible to carry.  I did not want to put down on the ground to readjust my grip so I called for my Dad.  He came downstairs and helped me lift Satomi onto the couch.  A few seconds alter, she awoke obviously upset.  We were all very upset. 

I asked why I wasn’t told that Satomi was coming downstairs.  I’m still quite enraged by the answer so it would not be appropriate for me to discuss it in open forum here.  However, consider this question:  What would have happened if Satomi had the seizure while still on the stairs only a minute earlier?