HUMOUR OF THE DAY

A Lab Report & Cat Scan

A woman brought a very limp duck into a veterinary surgeon. As she laid her pet on the table, the vet pulled out his stethoscope and listened to the bird's chest. After a moment or two, the vet shook his head sadly and said, "I'm sorry, your duck, Cuddles, has passed away."The distressed woman wailed, "Are you sure?" "Yes, I am sure. The duck is dead," replied the vet."How can you be so sure?" she protested. "I mean you haven't done any testing on him or anything. He might just be in a coma or something." The vet rolled his eyes, turned around and left the room.He returned a few minutes later with a black Labrador Retriever. As the duck's owner looked on in amazement, the dog stood on his hind legs, put his front paws on the examination table and sniffed the duck from top to bottom. He then looked up at the vet with sad eyes and shook his head. The vet patted the dog on the head and took it out of the room.



A few minutes later he returned with a cat. The cat jumped on the table and also delicately sniffed the bird from head to foot. The cat sat back on its haunches, shook its head, meowed softly and strolled out of the room.The vet looked at the woman and said, "I'm sorry, but as I said, this is most definitely, 100% certifiably, a dead duck."The vet turned to his computer terminal, hit a few keys and produced a bill, which he handed to the woman. The duck's owner, still in shock, took the bill. "$150!" she cried, "$150 just to tell me my duck is dead!!!

The vet shrugged, "I'm sorry. If you had just taken my word for it, the bill would have been $20, but with the Lab Report and the Cat Scan, it's now $150."

Humour and laughter are the best medication all of us can afford to have because it comes without costs. Besides just taking our anti epileptic drugs daily, always make sure you top it up with an ample and generous dose of humour and laughter. Humour and laughter have the abilities to zap away your negativities, bleach your darkest moments till it turns glaringly white, flush away fear and embarrassment and spruce your mind, health and soul till it becomes cleany clean clean.

I always enjoy good humour and great hearty laughs. My hubby and I were engaged in a game of snooker recently. Both of us had no experience at all with this game. We were so clumsy in handling the long sticks. The only rule of the game was the winner will be decided based on the number of balls entered. My hubby and I posed in all sorts of wierd and funny positions when playing this game. At one point of time, my hubby showed off to me by doing a bend stroke. He bent his body so low onto the snooker table as if he was lying face front on the table. Then with limited vision, he pushed the stick forward. Instead of hitting the ball in front of him, the stick tilted and pointed upward to the ceiling. At that funny sight, I fell instantly onto the floor as if I was having a seizure. I grabbed my chest and tummy and was laughing uncontrollably. I laughed and laughed till all my body muscles ached. I was completely out of strength to stand up on my own. My hubby had to stretch out his hand to me to pull me up from the floor. Both of us continued laughing our hearts out.

So, laugh whenever you can. Laughter has miraculous healing power. Laugh and others will laugh with you. Share a humour and make your laughter contagious. Laughter will lift up your burdens. Laughter will make you forget about almost everything.

Temporal Lobe Epilepsy (TLE) and the Paranormal By Stuart Ross McCallum (author) Beyond my Control Many unrelated conditions that can affect human beings often go under the microscope of ‘possible’ paranormal experiences. However, none has paranormal researchers ‘buzzing’ more than temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE). Many sufferers of (TLE) have spoken about their utterly bizarre and compelling paranormal experiences, which has been well documented in medical journals. Being a sufferer of (TLE) for twenty years, I experienced many paranormal episodes which increased as my condition escalated. At the beginning I had feelings of déjà vu which manifested itself as an aura (simple partial seizure). During an aura I would often return to a village in England set sometime in the 16th Century; the villagers were all joyfully smiling, and some dancing. While experiencing these strange thoughts and illusions, physically, I felt ill with a sick feeling rising up to my chest. On other occasions I would find myself walking around a crowd of people who I believed I recognized, however, their faces were strangely distorted, and I could hear sinister cackling. As time passed, I encountered a variety of incredibly weird, ultimately bizarre episodes. As my condition deteriorated, the auras were followed with a (complex partial seizure). At times, the aftermath (postictal state) of these seizures were both deeply disturbing, and frightening experiences. I would enter (postictal psychosis) and lose touch with reality immediately after the seizure passed. A brief excerpt of one of these events is taken from my book: One of the early episodes with my menacing postictal state occurred in my stained glass studio. The moment I shouted, "I'm having an aura," our seizure plan was immediately activated, and I was locked inside my studio. The seizure passed, and I entered my postictal state. In a trance-like condition, I began to aimlessly walk around the showroom, glaring at the display of fragile glass and lighting. After a few minutes I clenched my hand into a fist and randomly lashed out, striking the glass panels. With my fist bleeding, I focused on the doors, kicking them over. As my postictal state was beginning to end, I calmly walked into the manufacturing area and lay down laughing and smiling. Once I finished laughing, I sat down staring and wondering why my hand was bleeding. I heard Rhonda unlocking the back door. She went straight to the first aid box and attended to my hand. Fortunately my hand wasn't too bad and Rhonda kindly cleaned the cut, and dressed my wound. Feeling ashamed and hesitant, I asked, "What have I done this time?" Rhonda explained the ludicrous rampage, walking around my showroom, breaking glass.....I felt extremely gutted. As always, I had no recollection of the episode once the seizure had passed. Today, (TLE) is still commonly misdiagnosed, and one of the most misunderstood conditions affecting human beings. Hopefully, by speaking out about (TLE) people will become more knowledgeable about this highly complex condition, and in time sufferers will be quickly and correctly diagnosed.

source : www.beyondmycontrol.net




Please visit www.beyondmycontrol.net. Ross will be most happy to welcome you. It was a great privilege for me to be able to meet Ross in person. Talking and sharing with Ross and reading his book "Beyond My Control" I experienced a great sense of control and triumph over epilepsy by Ross.

Ross tells in his book that although having epilepsy may be crippling and make many things beyond one's control, it is his and our choice to straighten things and put it into right perspectives. With a positive mindset and willingness to pursue full understanding of our epileptic condition, everything will eventually be within our control.

Make sure your epileptic condition is being thoroughly and properly diagnosed even if it means you have to visit more than 3 or 4 neurologists. Cooperate with your neurologist to ensure that you are being prescribed the right type of medication best suited to control your seizures. If different types of medication cannot help in controlling your seizures, you may want to discuss with your neurologist about surgery option.

Beyond My Control is a very inspiring book for caregivers and people with epilepsy to read. It is also a very moving and captivating book for casual readers who will find it hard to resist reading the entire book.

HAPPY READING

Masked gang attack epileptic man

A County Tyrone woman whose son was beaten by masked men armed with iron bars has said she does not know why he was targeted.

The woman, who does not want to be identified, said he was too afraid to return to his house in the Carlton Drive area of Strabane.

The 25-year-old victim suffers from two types of epilepsy.

"They could've killed him. I don't know how anybody can inflict this kind of pain on someone else," she said.

The incident took place at about 2100 BST on Friday. The man was taken to hospital for treatment to injuries to his arms and legs. Police have appealed for witnesses to contact them.

source : news.bbc.co.uk





This world is becoming more and more unsafe to live in. I know crimes are inevitable and happen everywhere. Two months ago, I witnessed a massive group of protesters holding banners and shouting slogans right in the middle of a busy cross road section in Melbourne, Australia. Onlookers had a fright of their lives. I was frightened beyond words. I stood at a far distance to witness the crowd. Traffic from four sides of the roads came to a halt and standstill. Motorists abandoned their vehicles and passengers in trams scrammed for their safety. Police cars and personnels were seen everywhere trying to control the fuming crowd of protesters.

A group of four Sri Lankan men were standing beside me. I asked them if they know what the protest was about. Apparently, the issue was about the rapid rise in the rate of Asians being attacked by locals. The crowd had demanded to see and talk to the Mayor face to face. They wanted the Mayor to accept their memorandum consisting of steps and actions to be taken by the police to restore safety of Asians living there.

A week after the protest, The Star, a leading paper in Malaysia reported the protest held in Melbourne. Two weeks ago, my hubby emailed me from Guangzhou telling me he had read in the local newspaper of more similar protests held in Melbourne and Sydney. My hubby was very concerned about our safety in Melbourne.

One Sri Lankan man told me that his friend had been beaten and clobbered to death because he did not have spare change to give to a group of locals when confronted. Another Sri Lankan man told me that an Indian university student was being beaten mercilessly for not having a cigarette lighter to help light the cigarettes of some locals. The Indian student was sent to a nearest hospital in a comatized condition. The troubled and concerned Sri Lankan men advised me not to be out on the streets too late at night or to be in a midnight tram because of safety reasons.

How safe can I be? Does anyone know? I certainly do not know but the thought of being robbed, attacked and/or raped during a seizure sends chills down my spine. I once read in The Star paper that a grandpa of 76 years old was caught raping his teenage granddaughter who had multiple slerocis and cerebral palsy. Upon further questioning, the convicted grandpa confessed he had been raping his teenage granddaughter for close to ten years. His teenage granddaughter also had two abortions as a result of his raping.

Awareness about the sentiments and predicaments of people with disabilities (wheelchair bound, downs syndrome, parkinsons, alzheimer, cerebral palsy, learning disabled, mental retardation, autistic, etc) and people with epilepsy is so important in our society. It is with knowledge that acceptance will follow. Invoking understanding, loving and caring attitudes in people is a crucial role not only cut out for an epilepsy activist like me but rather it is everyone's duty to do it for the sake of their loved ones, friends and relatives.


Please join me in my activist role and help make this world a better and safer place for everyone to live in.

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY (HAPPY MERDEKA)

Today marks the 52nd year of Malaysia's independence from British rule. I am wondering how would it be like if Malaysia is still under British rule. Would there be a parade including the Queen's Royal Horse Carriage? Would Merdeka Square be named as British Square? Would Malaysians be loyal and patriotic to wave the British flag and shout LONG LIVE THE QUEEN? It is impossible to visualise and imagine but one thing I know and long for is to be able to live my life independently.

Like a nation and everyone else I would love to lead an independent life free from troubling others and asking for favours to be done. Don't all of us love to live a life where almost everything is within our reach and means?

People who drive tend to complain and grumble about congested traffic conditions when someone like me would have to think thrice on whether to risk my life or not in driving cos a seizure behind the wheels could spell death or critical injuries to others and/or myself. People who had to climb stairs as a result of a breakdown of lifts heave and pant and curse at the inefficiency of the building management people in their failure to quickly repair and restore the lifts back to working condition soonest possible. For people with epilepsy, climbing stairs also equates to risks and accidents. Two days ago, I read of a death case of a teenager epileptic girl who had a seizure while climbing stairs and as a result fell and rolled down the stairs to her death.

What I am trying to say here is I am unable to live an independant life on my own completely without any help or assistance from loved oncs. Naturally, I am very blessed to be loved, supported and cared for by my loved ones but then I cannot help feeling a great sense of helplessness during many moments in my life. The feeling of uselessness and constant dependancy drive me to frustrations, anger and resentments.

Ultimately, I need eyes watching out for me whenever possible. Like it or not, this is a fact of life and I have learned to be a better person in coping with my frustrations. Instead of harbouring on negativities I have emerged to be a more positive and stronger person in spirit, soul and faith. I endeavour to reach out to others to inspire them to overlook the "lost independance" and readily accept what life has to offer. Do not ever allow any form of disability to cripple your life. There are purposes in our lives.

Here I am wishing everyone "Happy Independence" and "Live Life To The Fullest" for those who need loved ones' assistance constantly. GOD BLESS.

First seizure may fuel thinking trouble in kids

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Children who are intellectually normal may have problems with language, memory, learning and other thinking or "cognitive" skills at or around the time they experience a first epileptic seizure, according to new research out in the medical journal Neurology.

"Our study highlights the importance of testing children with epilepsy for possible cognitive problems soon after they are diagnosed with epilepsy in order to avoid these issues affecting them later in life, especially if they have additional risk factors," study author Dr. Philip Fastenau noted in a statement from the journal's publisher, the American Academy of Neurology.

Fastenau, from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine, Cleveland, and colleagues studied brain function and academic achievement in 282 school-aged children with a first seizure and 147 healthy seizure-free siblings.

In this intellectually normal group of kids, 27% of children with just one seizure showed cognitive difficulties at or near the time of the seizure, and up to 40% of those who had additional risk factors showed signs of cognitive problems, the study team found.

A child with four risk factors was three times more likely than seizure-free healthy siblings to have cognitive problems at the first doctor's visit.

The study also found that children who took anti-seizure drugs had difficulties in processing speed, language, verbal memory, and learning, compared to children who did not take any seizure medication.

Children prescribed antiepileptic drugs "should be closely monitored for cognitive problems resulting from the epilepsy drug," Fastenau said.

"Surprisingly," he added, academic achievement in these children appeared to be unaffected around the time of the first seizure. This suggests that "there is a window early in epilepsy for intervention to avoid hurting a child's performance at school," the researchers say.

In a related editorial, Dr. David Loring, of Emory University in Atlanta, makes the point that, "Because this study found cognitive problems at the time of the first seizure or soon after, it provides strong evidence that these cognitive problems can be attributed to underlying brain abnormalities that lead to the epilepsy, rather than from extended exposure to epilepsy drugs or the effect of numerous seizures."

SOURCE: Neurology, online August 12, 2009 (www.reuters.com)

TORN BETWEEN TO BE WITH SON OR NOT

Source : Camden News


Social services held emergency talks on moving an art historian to
secure accommodation amid fears for his safety just months before he
was killed by his son, the New Journal has learned. Professor Lee
Johnson, 81, was beaten up and left to die in a house fire started by
his son Michael in July 2006. Both men were rescued from the blaze but
Professor Johnson died from shock in hospital. The tragedy that
unfolded was described as "avoidable".

The council people did what they could to protect Professor Johnson,
including calling the police in for advice. But Professor Johnson
wanted to continue to see his son alone. Neither the council nor the
police could stop that.

Judge Beaumont said it was "necessary for the protection of the public
from serious harm at Michael's hands" that Johnson be held under the
Mental Health Act. At the time of the offence he was suffering from a
mental illness of a nature that makes it appropriate for him to be
detained in a hospital, said judge. The drugs and his epilepsy brought
him to this act. This tragedy has arisen as a result of the delusion
within Michael Johnson's mind after what was a solid relationship, and
under no normal circumstances would he dream of harming his father.

Dr Peter Fenwick, one of the country's leading epilepsy experts, said
Keppra, the drug Johnson was being prescribed, was controversial. It
is well known for three major effects, he said. It is extremely good
for seizure cessation. Secondly, it makes people very irritable and
thirdly it can induce encephalopathy (brain disease) and from that can
arise psychosis. A number of my patients do develop psychosis.

(Definition of psychosis)
In the general sense, a mental illness that markedly interferes with a
person's capacity to meet life's everyday demands. In a specific
sense, it refers to a thought disorder in which reality testing is
grossly impaired.

This piece of tragic news reminded me of my Penang friend. In an
epilepsy support group meeting, she related of a nightmarish event
that unfolded in her home. Her teenager son who was epileptic had a
seizure one afternoon. Knowing her son's unexplainable violence during
a seizure, she hid herself in her bedroom. Little would she expect her
son to dash into her bedroom with a chopper knife. She had known very
well from her son's past seizures that windows in her house would be
smashed and furniture would be broken. But to attack her with a
chopping knife was beyond her imagination.

She screamed for her life and yelled hysterically for help. In her
attempt to escape from her "unintentional" killing son, she suffered
slashes and cuts. She dashed into a storeroom and locked herself in.
She waited till silence was restored and heard her son groaning in
pain. She knew by then his seizure had stopped. She walked out of the
storeroom and found her son lying half conscious on the floor of the
kitchen.

She called the police in immediately before her son regain full
consciousness. She also called an ambulance for herself. Her son was
being detained in the police lockup. She survived the fatal killing
act coming from her epileptic son and was so traumatised that she
never wanted to see her son again. She told us in tears drenching her
blouse that it was extremely heartbreaking for her to see her son end
up in a hospital and eventually, in an asylum, permanently.

I empathised my friend's situation and as a mum of a son I was also
very heartbroken to hear such a tragic piece of news. Epilepsy robbed
her of her only child. Because of all the harrowing experiences my
friend had gone through with her son, my friend was determined to
share the moral of her story with all caregivers - ALWAYS CARE AND
LOVE YOUR CHILDREN FOR WHO AND WHAT THEY ARE. THEY ARE PRICELESS.
UNLESS THEY HAVE COMMITTED ACTS OF KILLING, DO NOT WALK AWAY FROM
THEM. VALUE AND TREASURE THEM ALWAYS BECAUSE YOU NEVER KNOW WHETHER
YOU WILL LOSE THEM OR NOT OUT OF EXPLAINABLE AND ACCEPTABLE HEALTH
PROBLEMS.

IMPORTANCE OF SIGNAGES

What do you do when you are in an unfamiliar airport, train station, hospital, Immigration office or a new place you have never been to? You look out for signages. Our natural instincts are to look out for signages that can direct and guide us to spots , areas or streets that we are looking for. Lack of accurate and prominent signages spell calamity and give us a frightening and worrying sense of being quite lost and helpless. In such a case, we resort to asking people for directions.

Earlier this year, my son and I made a trip to a video arcade. We played and moved from one game to another until I stumbled upon the above signage. The signage had several warnings and one of it is has to do with people with epilepsy. It stated that if you have been diagnosed with epilepsy or experience seizures or dizziness with video product, you must consult a physician before playing. After taking a snapshot of this signage we ended our arcade trip as we are aware of the potential risks involved for both of us.

Imagine if there wasn't any warning signages for people with health risks especially people with epilepsy? A lot of young kids have their first seizures in video arcades. Parents are caught off guard and later regretted having brought their children to such places. I wish it is a mandatory Act in all countries for operators of video arcades to display prominent health warning signs for everyone to take note.