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To Drive or not to Drive?

Sun, 01/13/2008 - 19:00
I'm 16 and soon i'll be allowed to drive. Since I have been seizure free for about 8 months I can have my drivers liscence. The question is...should I drive? I can't really speak to any of my friends or family about this because they don't understand completely. I would really like to have someone message me about this perdicament. I suppose the real fear is that I will hurt others. I know that even when I take my medicine there is a slight possibility that I could get a seizure and I'm not sure if I really want to drive under that fear. Does anyone drive here on this website? PLease message me.

Comments

Re: To Drive or not to Drive?

Submitted by david wittmer on Thu, 2008-02-21 - 15:52
david59     This subject has to be the most extreme out there, next to medications and their side effects. I have had only three seizures in my life(I know of) , all tonic/clonic, the first in Sept 06. While waiting for my neuro appointment six weeks later, Holloween morning I was driving to work, blacked out, drove six blocks, and destoyed my truck into a metal traffic light post. I woke up in the closest ER with someone holding each limb and a doctor holding my head asking me questions. I was in a dream, cussing and fighting. I did not believe him until I looked at my right wrist , which was hanging from my forearm. My existing life had changed forever. I thought I would have a warning sign and could just pull over. The paramedics and ER staff were angels to me, just doing their jobs, making miracles happen, it seems. They thought I was dead when they found me. When I came to on the ride to the ER they knew it was a siezure(I now wear a bracelet). This happened on a four lane road with no median during AM rush hour. fortunately I veered to the right instead of left into oncoming traffic. I think of this every day, and pass by the site several times a week, as I drive by in my new truck. Yes, I waited three months(here in KY), then couldnt stand the helpless feeling of depending on my friends(they are special) and my co-workers(being the boss,correcting them at times, then asking for a ride home) so I got in my new truck and became independant again. My neuro thinks this is good, to get "back to normal", and I wish it were so . The truth is, he doesnt know, I dont know, when another will come... like the one I had just two weeks after I began driving again. This time I was home, and only my wife had to endure the event. That was my last,so far. I waited three months, and resumed driving. I know I can say my job, my profession, depends on the flexibility that driving gives me, but I also know that my pride, my ability to determine my own future, seems to have been taken away. Driving is a three dimentional reality(watch where you and the other guy are going),but your well-being and sanity is what you must ultimately live with.     Thanks to all who share their lives here. I am glad to feel I am not alone with my questions.                        

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