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How Many Drive?
Thu, 09/06/2007 - 12:38I'm just curious how many people drive? I'm at the point where I am on medication, its been 4 months, and my doctor is okay with my driving again. I am just waiting for DMV's approval.
My history is I have had (2) gran mal seizures in the past 3 1/2 years. One 3.5 years ago and one 4 months ago. I am now on Tegretol. I did not have any history of seizures prior to this (at least not known to us but the doctors suspects I might have unknowingly) and I found out it does run in the family. I am 40 years old.
I am a super-busy mom. This has been so hard to deal with. I am very lucky because I have a wonderful support system to shuttle us about, but I know everyone must be getting weary although they NEVER complain to me. Public transportation in our city is not only a joke-- it is unsafe.
Part of me can't wait to get my license back. The other part of me is scared to death. I have already told my support system even if DMV does give me my license back there will still be days I won't want to drive. There are days the meds really get to me. I can handle the nausea, but there are days I feel "weak". I don't want to risk driving if I don't feel 100%. I would never risk my family-- or anyone else's.
How does everyone cope with this? How do you cope with the physical as well as the emotional part?
Thanks for any input.
~ Believe
Comments
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Submitted by ROCKNROLL on Tue, 2007-10-09 - 15:26
HI BELIEVE, I DON'T DRIVE. IF E. WAS THE ONLY THING I HAD TO DEAL WITH, I STILL DEFINITELY WOULD NOT DRIVE. E. IS TOO UNPREDICTABLE. ONE DAY WE ARE FINE, AND BAM, OUT OF NOWHERE, THE S. START AGAIN. SOME PEOPLE CAN GO FOR YEARS. SOME FOR A DAY OR TWO. PERSONALLY, I JUST DON'T THINK IT IS A GAMBLE I WOULD WANT TO DEAL WITH. I READ THE OTHER COMMENTS HERE, AND HAVE READ MANY BLOGS ABOUT DRIVING, AND PEOPLE GETTING THEIR LISCENSE BACK, BUT QUITE HONESLY I DON'T UNDERSTAND HOW ANYONE WITH E. WOULD TAKE THE CHANCE OF HURTING THEMSELVES OR SOMEONE ELSE.
I HAVE NEVER REPLIED TO A BLOG ABOUT SOMEONE WHO IS TRYING TO GET THEIR LISCENSE BACK, OR IS WORRIED ABOUT LOOSING IT. I JUST DIDN'T HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY THAT WOULD SUPPORT SOMEONE WITH E. DRIVING, SO THOUGHT I JUST SHOULD NOT SAY ANYTHING AT ALL. BUT HERE, I FEEL FREE TO SAY WHAT I THINK. MY THOUGHT: NO ONE WITH E. SHOULD BE DRIVING. IT IS TOO DANGEROUS. GOD BLESS, JAN
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Submitted by karolina on Tue, 2007-10-09 - 18:18
Jan you are probably right but that would be detramental to so many people's lives. People could lose their jobs and health insurance. Should people who have had atleast one heart attack also not drive? How about people over 65 whose reaction time and thinking can be as bad as someone who has consumed a few beers. What about the people who drive and talk on their cell phones? I brought this up to my doctor after he said he was going to send a report to the DMV and after ten minutes of his don't driving speech while having spells, he looked up at me after my cell phone comment and said he was almost killed by someone who was driving and talking on the phone. Needless to say I still got my license revoked.
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Submitted by yerac87 on Mon, 2007-10-08 - 18:15
I drove off and on since I was 18 years old back in 1976. Have had epilepsy since I was 2 years old. In the past 3.5 years I have almost died due to accidents caused by my epilepsy. The last accident was a driving accident. After that I said to myself and my wife I was just going to give up driving for good. Staying alive is worth more to me than having a drivers license. I could get around other ways if I had to. Not that I gave up, I just looked at the big picture and asked myself what was worth more to me, life (wife included)or driving.