Back To Basics—Definition of Seizure and Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a chronic disorder which is characterized by recurrent, unprovoked seizures, often with no known cause.  The word unprovoked is important here because someone can have one seizure due to alcohol, sudden head trauma, lack of sleep, or extreme stress.  That individual seizure is not counted as epilepsy. 

Seizure Triggers

Pardon my not having posted anything for over ten days.  I went on a family vacation in Hawaii for the past week and just returned a few days ago.

The vacation was very pleasant.  We did many special activities, including seeing an Ulalena show, a history of the Hawaiian people in song and dance.  We also went to a luau and tried out many restaurants, sampling traditional Hawaiian foods.

However, there was one major thing about the stay in Hawaii that was inconvenient at best, and unbearable at its worst.  The weather was nothing like I have experienced in a long time.  Not only was it hot, it was extremely humid!

The heat and humidity got so bad that, during lunch one day, it caused me to have a cluster of seizures.  This made me realize how careful I had to be and to try to keep cool and hydrated.  Obviously, heat is a seizure trigger for me.

Airline Preboarding Policies

Flying home from the holidays on Southwest Airlines reminded me that money talks.  I know it’s a cliché, but that’s why this metaphor rings true.

I had gotten authorization to preboard the flight and learned that I would be boarding after the Group A passengers.  For those of you who are not familiar with how Southwest operates, they have open seating and board according to Groups (A, B, and C) and priority numbers (1-15, 16-30, 31-45, 46-60).  The sooner you check in, the better your chances of boarding earlier.  If you pay extra, then you get the privilege