1. It Starts

Back in late August, Margaret, my lovely wife of nearly 32 years now, and I went out to the Black Hills to watch our 16 year old son, Johnny, play in two soccer games over that weekend. The first night’s game was up in Spearfish – we watched the game, went and got something to eat, then drove down to Rapid City to spend the night at Margaret’s sister, Colleen’s house. I wanted to go to bed early that night (I frequently go to bed early anyway). I had fallen asleep and was awakened by a strange smell that really bothered me. I felt almost nauseous, was pretty sweaty, and felt like I was going to be sick. I felt kind of dizzy and woozy. I got up to go into the bathroom, and ended up on my hands and knees leaning over a floor register to get some cool air. This little episode lasted about 30 seconds, but was rather disconcerting. When Margaret came into he bedroom I told her about it, and we tried to get to sleep. The entire night, I was awakened with these same type of spells – I would look up and see snakes in the light fixtures (by the way, I do not like snakes at all). I would see people leaning out of the bedroom wall shouting at me to hit the ball. (I could never bat well in baseball). The spells would come and go, and I would try to fall back to sleep. Next morning, we got up and got dressed to go out to breakfast. Margaret, Colleen, and I discussed the spells a bit more, but they seem to have abated, so we hoped it was just a bad reaction to something I had eaten. We ended up going out south of Rapid City to have a Cowboy pancake breakfast at some dude ranch. It was fun and not too bad for the food. As Margaret and I told Colleen goodbye and headed for Saturday’s soccer game, we continued to talk about the strange spells I had been having and wondered what they could have been. Things went well for a short time. We set up the folding sports chairs in the perfect vantage point and settled in for the game. Our son, Tom, called my cell phone from DWU in Mitchell and asked how things were going. As I talked with him, I guess I am told, I got up from my chair and wandered out onto the parking lot. I was rather confused again. Margaret followed me and told me she heard Tom telling me to give the phone to Mom. I bet that was scary for the party on the receiving end of that phone call! Margaret told Tom we were going to go to the ER in Rapid to see what was going on. She and I both started wondering if I was having a heart attack or a stroke. She tried to load things up and get me into our RDX. I was helpful in telling her that this was not our car, and where was she taking me. At the ER, they ran those usual first tests for a heart attack, then stroke, then drug use, etc. I had a CT scan done, and some other tests. I had several spells with snakes hanging from their curtain rods, but they acted like they did not believe me when I told them about them. Anyway, the ER doctor thought I may have reacted to an antihistamine for allergies. He wrote me a script for an anti-nausea drug and advised that I see our doctor at home, but do not drive.

          What a ride home for poor Johnny and Margaret. First off, I do not let Margaret drive when I am along much – I must be in control. Every 30 to 40 minutes, I could feel these spells begin in the pit of my stomach. I would say we were on the wrong road – that the construction equipment was moving on its own legs, that we were lost. I even got to where I would announce that another spell was coming on. Must have been a treat for those two. At the end of these spells (which will turn out to be a type of seizure), I would have a heavy metallic taste in the back of my mouth. I hated that – it was like they would come to a crescendo, then the bad taste at the peak. A very dreadful experience. We made it home and I stopped having spells for the time being.