A: Generally, the tonic-clonic version, and sometimes the absences, is it Mum?
E: Yes
A: I think that’s the main ones, isn’t it?
E: Yes. She has no warnings, so it’s a sudden fall, and she loses consciousness… and it’s the usual – well, I’m saying it’s the usual thing because I’m used to it, but you perhaps might find it quite frightening if you suddenly found her lying on the floor! Usually, she can jerk, and sometimes lets out a cry because all of her chest muscles have gone into spasm, and pushed the air out. Then she bites the inside of her mouth. That’s usually the sign Amanda has that she knows she’s had a seizure, because her mouth is sore.
A: Or sometime incontinence, every now and again, sometimes isn’t there Mum?
E: Yes, occasionally you do, yes. And that can be very embarrassing.
A: They used to be monthly, didn’t they?
E: Yes. She’s very lucky now, she’s been having a reasonably good spell, but before that it was nearly once every month. When she was younger that was, and studying in Cardiff at the time. And, Amanda joined a local swimming club, and most of the time they did a one-to-one basis. But Amanda had become such a proficient swimmer that she was allowed to go on her own. And I didn’t go in the pool with her, I sat on the side. But this particular evening, I sort of thought “I haven’t noticed Amanda going up and down…” So I said to someone, “Has Amanda got out to go and get changed?” – and, then of course there was the general thinking of “Where is Amanda?” and she was on the bottom of the pool. So, that was quite scary. Well, luckily, one of the other club members dived in and picked her up and fortunately got her out at exactly the right time, because she was just beginning to come round. And when she’s coming round, her first thing is a deep breath, and that would have been a lung full of water – but luckily it was air!
