So I've been in a writing slump since I finished the book's first draft. You get addicted to the "what next" escapist aspect of writing. That's why I started poking around journals. Looking for ideas I already had. How lazy can you get, eh?
This is sort of a cool one that I found from when I was in the hospital getting a 24 hour EEG to test me for seizures after they pulled me from my medication. Three of the main triggers for a seizure are dehydration, stress and exhaustion. And since they didn't want a bitchy high strung potential epileptic wired to the wall, they went the exhaustion route. Had to feel a little bad for them because I knew I was going to be a hard one to trip up. My mind was having too good of a time describing how red was not at all the color I had been seeing before the medication (and probably the seizures) stopped. That and describing what three dimensions looked like to whoever would be tolerant it enough to listen to me (God Bless You Debbie Perlman). Also, I had years of night shoots on movie sets under my belt. 24 hours? Phupt!
My roommate was wired to the other wall. She was new to the whole epilepsy thing thanks to the gift of a high fever that fried her brain. However, she had a very similar kind. I got to see what my own seizures looked like. I'm glad that I'm not the only one on this planet who hooted. So. This is what I wrote while I was wired to the wall:
"My eyes stopped blinking for a little bit there but the nurse came in and offered me some of her peanuts. Nice lady. Some bonehead at Comedy Central turned the television to infomercial programming at 4am. Trying to kill me slowly with rowing machines, you snot rags. Cheap bastards. 3 hours till breakfast. I've been alone eating up time for 5 hours because my room mate had a seizure and got to go to sleep. I pee a lot. It keeps me getting up. My socks keep my feet from touching the floor where the portable bed's wheels have been transported through you-name-it-someone-oozed it and never cleaned. At least that was what I was told. My I.V. heplock has been getting sore to move around much. There are 24 pieces of wire attached from my head into a bundle stuffed into a pack which is, in turn, plugged into the wall. I schlepp the whole hoopla with me into the bathroom tethered on a 25 foot wire. I brush my teeth. Go to wash my face. 3 or 4 times. My head hurts. I am not allowed to sleep. They are trying to cause seizures. Fat chance. I'll take the (sore) hand." It was worth shaving my head again (actually, I miss having a shaved head....it's easier than hair). To have the wires stick without causing the extra drama of having to get glue out of my hair. It was the most pleasant hospital experience I've ever had because they would bring me drinks, let me play puzzles all night and I didn't feel sick. In fact, I felt great. It was the first time in 3 years I could see properly and didn't feel exhausted from seizures and then later, medication.
And I have never had to take antiseizure medication again from that point forward. It was my night of hazing and I made it. My reward was a healthy person's life with all the rights that came with it that I had missed so much. Most of us wind up like my room mate. I got freed.
"My eyes stopped blinking for a little bit there but the nurse came in and offered me some of her peanuts. Nice lady. Some bonehead at Comedy Central turned the television to infomercial programming at 4am. Trying to kill me slowly with rowing machines, you snot rags. Cheap bastards. 3 hours till breakfast. I've been alone eating up time for 5 hours because my room mate had a seizure and got to go to sleep. I pee a lot. It keeps me getting up. My socks keep my feet from touching the floor where the portable bed's wheels have been transported through you-name-it-someone-oozed it and never cleaned. At least that was what I was told. My I.V. heplock has been getting sore to move around much. There are 24 pieces of wire attached from my head into a bundle stuffed into a pack which is, in turn, plugged into the wall. I schlepp the whole hoopla with me into the bathroom tethered on a 25 foot wire. I brush my teeth. Go to wash my face. 3 or 4 times. My head hurts. I am not allowed to sleep. They are trying to cause seizures. Fat chance. I'll take the (sore) hand." It was worth shaving my head again (actually, I miss having a shaved head....it's easier than hair). To have the wires stick without causing the extra drama of having to get glue out of my hair. It was the most pleasant hospital experience I've ever had because they would bring me drinks, let me play puzzles all night and I didn't feel sick. In fact, I felt great. It was the first time in 3 years I could see properly and didn't feel exhausted from seizures and then later, medication.
And I have never had to take antiseizure medication again from that point forward. It was my night of hazing and I made it. My reward was a healthy person's life with all the rights that came with it that I had missed so much. Most of us wind up like my room mate. I got freed.
Read more: http://www.myspace.com/hoohajess/blog?page=3#ixzz11S4PyWLk
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