**With how long it can take a ambulance to get to their destination and than get the pt to the hospital I recommend CALL 911 Immediately if never diagnosed before or if diagnosed with after 1 minute or so in the seizure.  Since the braisn can die with NO oxygen in 7 seconds.  Keep in mind the person in a seizure does not mean they have no oxygen immediately but status epilepticus (one seizure after another) going on minutes can cause that condition.  John Travolta’s son died due to a blood disorder caused Kawasaki Disorder and the son was taken off epileptic medications 1 wk by the parents but no fault on that was proven as the reason for the child’s death by coroner’s report. 

Seizures vary from person to person depending on what type of epilepsy they have. A seizure occurs when normal signals in the brain are interrupted. With epilepsy, it is usually a burst of abnormal brain activity that causes the disruption.  There are many different types of epileptic seizures.

Types of epileptic seizures:

Remember epileptic seizures vary from person to person and their are many different factors that could have caused it.

Recently in 2017, there was a new system established to describe the different types of seizures, aimed at making it clearer for doctors to notice and understand the onset and characteristics of different seizures and treat them effectively. It is still quite complex, but the types are named based on 3 characteristics:

• Where in the brain the seizure begins, whether it is on 1 or both sides of the brain, and another factor is how much of the brain is affected, a localized area or 1/2 the brain or the entire brain. Generalized seizures usually affect both sides, while a focal seizures affects a portion of the brain.
• How aware the person is during the seizure, partially or entirely unconscious.
  
• How much movement, or ‘jerking’ there is during the seizure

Tonic clonic seizures

These are the ones most people think of when they think of fits, that people use to call them. They affect both sides of the brain and are therefore generalized seizures, the person will not be aware during the seizure and may not remember it at all, and there is considerable movement. This also used to be known as a ‘grand mal’ seizure. A person will become suddenly stiff, then usually collapse, after which the muscles will tense and relax rhythmically. This can cause shaking, grunting, foaming at the mouth, and biting as the person has no control over the muscles in the body.  The person is unconcious.

Tonic and atonic seizures

A tonic seizure involves all the muscles suddenly becoming stiff, but doesn’t have the repetitive tensing and relaxing. An atonic seizure is the opposite, where all the muscles suddenly relax and the body goes floppy. Both these types are usually very quick and the body will probably fall over, and both are considered generalized seizures affecting both sides of the brain.  Again the person is unconcious.

Clonic seizures

Clonic seizures involve the rhythmical jerking without the initial stiffening of the muscles. They can be generalized, affecting the whole body, or focal, where only one side of the body is affected.  The

Myoclonic seizures

These are smaller jerking movements, similar to the feelings some people get when falling asleep. They can happen in clusters, with a series of jerks all at once. Although the person is conscious throughout, these are considered generalized seizures, as they are usually accompanied by other generalized seizures and often affect both sides of the brain.

Absence seizures

These generalized seizures are more common in children, and involve temporary absences, almost like daydreaming. The person may miss pieces of information in a conversation, all of a sudden garbled words – not making any sense and may blink rapidly or stare into space.  You snap your fingers in front the person’s eyes and no response of the person till they come out of the seizure.  The person is unconcious temporarily.

Focal onset aware seizures

A focal seizure begins in 1 part of the brain rather than both sides or the entire brain being affected, and as such rarely involves jerking or convulsions. Focal aware seizures occur when the person is aware and not unconcious of what is going on, but may feel a strange sensation. This can be an upset stomach, a wave going through the body, or deja vu, among many other things. They are often undetectable to anyone else, although can sometimes involve movement such as lip smacking or noises.

Focal onset impaired seizures

These similarly only affect a part of the brain, but they leave the person impaired in some way. They may be confused, have a loss of memory, or be unable to communicate or understand. Recovery periods can vary as well, with some needing to sleep or rest afterwards, while others recover almost immediately.

Focal to bilateral tonic clonic seizures

Focal seizures can sometimes spread to the whole brain, resulting in a tonic clonic seizure.

Unknown onset seizures

Sometimes the origin of the seizure is unknown, usually because the seizure was not seen by anyone else or occurred during sleep. This is then called an unknown onset seizure, and future seizures may help to understand more about this person’s epilepsy.

As you can see there are many different types of epileptic seizures that occur for many different reasons as well, and within this many symptoms or possible reactions for the body and brain.  We will cover causes and symptoms this week in one of our topis for epilepsy.  Understanding the type of seizure with how a seizure starts and how a person behaves while having a seizure can help determine how best to treat the epilepsy.  People also get to know any triggers that can cause their epileptic seizures. The most common triggers are flashing lights, stress, anxiety and sleep deprivation. As we said earlier, some people stop having seizures after a while, although the reasons behind this are as unknown as the causes for many people with epilepsy,  in the first place others.

Epilepsy is a neurological condition involving the brain that makes people more susceptible to having recurrent unprovoked seizures. It is one of the most common disorders of the nervous system and affects people of all ages, races and ethnic background. According to the CDC, almost 3 million Americans live with epilepsy and nearly 200,000 people in the U.S. develop this condition annually.

Anything that interrupts the normal connections between nerve cells in the brain can cause a seizure; this includes a high fever, low blood sugar, alcohol or drug withdrawal, or a brain concussion. Under these circumstances, anyone can have one or more seizures. However, when a person has two or more recurrent unprovoked seizures, he or she is considered to have epilepsy. There are many possible causes of epilepsy, including an imbalance of nerve-signaling chemicals called neurotransmitters, tumors, strokes, and brain damage from illness or injury, or some combination of these. In the majority of cases, there may be no detectable cause for epilepsy.

Epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder in the world. If you have epilepsy, surges of electrical activity in your brain can cause recurring seizures.

“Not all parents and caregivers experience empty nest syndrome, but those who do often describe it as “bittersweet.” It combines the melancholy of suddenly living alone, with the intrigue of finally having time for yourself.

What is empty nest syndrome?

Empty nest syndrome refers to the feelings of sadness, anxiety, and loss of purpose that some parents and caregivers feel when their grown children move out of the family home.

Empty nest syndrome isn’t a medical or psychiatric health condition listed in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, 5th edition (DSM-5).

However, research shows that empty nest syndrome can lead to mental health issues, such as depression and anxiety, or engaging in behaviors that can have a negative impact such as financial risk-taking or substance use disorders.”

Psych Central (https://psychcentral.com/health/empty-nest-syndrome#empty-nest-defined)

Empty nest syndrome is not a clinical diagnosis. Instead, empty nest syndrome is a phenomenon in which parents experience feelings of sadness and loss when the last child leaves home. Empty nest syndrome usually happens in female parents aged between 40-50. When their children have to leave home e.g. for continuing their study in the college or university, parents have to stay home alone without routine activities with their children. Although parents might actively encourage their children to become independent, the experience of letting go can be painful. Parents might find it difficult to suddenly have no children at home who need their care. Parents might miss being a part of their children’s daily lives as well as the constant companionship. These changes might develop stress, anxiety and depression. It might eventually induce suicidal thought of the parents.

With reference to Kübler-Ross, Swiss-American psychiatrist, Grieving Process consists of 5 stages:

1. Denial and rejection;
2. Anger and acting against what had happened;
3. Bargaining for keeping the hopes;
4. Depression and grief; and
5. Acceptance of the loss.

If parents experience feelings of loss due to empty nest syndrome, advices that might help parents adapt to this major life change include accepting the timing, keeping in touch with children, seeking support if necessary and staying positive.

If the last child is about to leave home and parents are worried about empty nest syndrome, it is highly recommended to look for new opportunities in personal and professional life. Changing focus from taking care of children in the last 2-30 years, it is more beneficial to look after parent’s own health. Keeping busy or taking on new challenges at work or at home can help ease the sense of loss as well.

TIPS IN DEALING WITH THIS IN YOUR LIFE:

1 Time management tools can help you manage your time.

2 Space time out for a verse of the day, things you’re praying about, truths to remember, and even what to let go.

3 Make a Planner from daily to weekly to monthly in what you will be doing.

4 Like I say so many times as a RN, not to far from 40 years in this career, TAKE ONE DAY AT A TIME!

5 Remember anyone can start strong but the your goal should be “finish strong”.  Example, How many times have we said we would loose weight and started strong but ended weak loosing nothing putting the white flag up and restarting later all over again and it was just a broken record finishing with no results?  I have, but ending strong with starting strong is much better in results making you a more confident, stronger and happier as a person.

6 What ever your dreams are in wanting to accomplish but couldn’t with the kids at home due to busy now you can try to reach your goals you wanted to strive for.  Ex. Retired now, the kids left the nest, less to do at the house now but  you took a degree in art years ago, have been an artist at times in your working life but had to put it on hold since you had work elsewhere to do in paying the bills but not you can now do art work.  Just make sure that they are reachable goals and not impossible to reach in art work now.  So you don’t set your self up for failure.  You need to approach that before starting that new life goal.

Remember everything comes to an end, some things sooner than others of course, but it does not mean life is over!

“Cancer is the name given to a collection of related diseases. In all types of cancer, some of the body’s cells begin to divide without stopping and spread into surrounding tissues.

Cancer can start almost anywhere in the human body, which is made up of trillions of cells. Normally, human cells grow and divide to form new cells as the body needs them. When cells grow old or become damaged, they die, and new cells take their place.

When cancer develops, however, this orderly process breaks down. As cells become more and more abnormal, old or damaged cells survive when they should die, and new cells form when they are not needed. These extra cells can divide without stopping and may form growths called tumors.

Many cancers form solid tumors, which are masses of tissue. Cancers of the blood, such as leukemias, generally do not form solid tumors.

Cancerous tumors are malignant, which means they can spread into, or invade, nearby tissues. In addition, as these tumors grow, some cancer cells can break off and travel to distant places in the body through the blood or the lymph system and form new tumors far from the original tumor.

Unlike malignant tumors, benign tumors do not spread into, or invade, nearby tissues.

Cancer cells differ from normal cells in many ways that allow them to grow out of control and become invasive. One important difference is that cancer cells are less specialized than normal cells. That is, whereas normal cells mature into very distinct cell types with specific functions, cancer cells do not. This is one reason that, unlike normal cells, cancer cells continue to divide without stopping.

In addition, cancer cells are able to ignore signals that normally tell cells to stop dividing or that begin a process known as programmed cell death, or apoptosis, which the body uses to get rid of unneeded cells.

Cancer cells may be able to influence the normal cells, molecules, and blood vessels that surround and feed a tumor—an area known as the microenvironment. For instance, cancer cells can induce nearby normal cells to form blood vessels that supply tumors with oxygen and nutrients, which they need to grow. These blood vessels also remove waste products from tumors.

Cancer can be inherited and not.

The genetic changes that contribute to cancer tend to affect three main types of genes—proto-oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and DNA repair genes. These changes are sometimes called “drivers” of cancer.

The genetic changes that contribute to cancer tend to affect three main types of genes—proto-oncogenes, tumor suppressor genes, and DNA repair genes. These changes are sometimes called “drivers” of cancer.”

Georgetown Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center (https://ruesch.georgetown.edu/whatiscancer/)

Cancer is the uncontrolled growth of abnormal cells in the body. Cancer develops when the body’s normal control mechanism stops working. Old cells do not die and instead grow out of control, forming new, abnormal cells. These extra cells may form a mass of tissue, called a tumor. Some cancers, such as leukemia, do not form tumors.

Cancer may occur anywhere in the body. In women, breast cancer is one of the most common. In men, it’s prostate cancer. Lung cancer and colorectal cancer affect both men and women in high numbers.

There are five main categories of cancer:

• Carcinomas begin in the skin or tissues that line the internal organs.
• Sarcomas develop in the bone, cartilage, fat, muscle or other connective tissues.
• Leukemia begins in the blood and bone marrow.
• Lymphomas start in the immune system.
• Central nervous system cancers develop in the brain and spinal cord

When Cancer Spreads

A cancer that has spread from the place where it first started to another place in the body is called metastatic cancer. The process by which cancer cells spread to other parts of the body is called metastasis.

Metastatic cancer has the same name and the same type of cancer cells as the original, or primary, cancer. For example, breast cancer that spreads to and forms a metastatic tumor in the lung is metastatic breast cancer, not lung cancer.

Under a microscope, metastatic cancer cells generally look the same as cells of the original cancer. Moreover, metastatic cancer cells and cells of the original cancer usually have some molecular features in common, such as the presence of specific chromosome changes.

Treatment may help prolong the lives of some people with metastatic cancer. In general, though, the primary goal of treatments for metastatic cancer is to control the growth of the cancer or to relieve symptoms caused by it. Metastatic tumors can cause severe damage to how the body functions, and most people who die of cancer die of metastatic disease.

Tissue Changes that Are Not Cancer

Not every change in the body’s tissues is cancer. Some tissue changes may develop into cancer if they are not treated, however. Here are some examples of tissue changes that are not cancer but, in some cases, are monitored:

Hyperplasia occurs when cells within a tissue divide faster than normal and extra cells build up, or proliferate. However, the cells and the way the tissue is organized look normal under a microscope. Hyperplasia can be caused by several factors or conditions, including chronic irritation.

Dysplasia is a more serious condition than hyperplasia. In dysplasia, there is also a buildup of extra cells. But the cells look abnormal and there are changes in how the tissue is organized. In general, the more abnormal the cells and tissue look, the greater the chance that cancer will form.

Some types of dysplasia may need to be monitored or treated. An example of dysplasia is an abnormal mole (called a dysplastic nevus) that forms on the skin. A dysplastic nevus can turn into melanoma, although most do not.

An even more serious condition is carcinoma in situ. Although it is sometimes called cancer, carcinoma in situ is not cancer because the abnormal cells do not spread beyond the original tissue. That is, they do not invade nearby tissue the way that cancer cells do. But, because some carcinomas in situ may become cancer, they are usually treated.

Normal cells may become cancer cells. Before cancer cells form in tissues of the body, the cells go through abnormal changes called hyperplasia and dysplasia. In hyperplasia, there is an increase in the number of cells in an organ or tissue that appear normal under a microscope. In dysplasia, the cells look abnormal under a microscope but are not cancer. Hyperplasia and dysplasia may or may not become cancer.

“People with an increased risk of lung cancer may consider annual lung cancer screening using low-dose CT scans. Lung cancer screening is generally offered to older adults who have smoked heavily for many years or who have quit in the past 15 years.  In diagnosing tests may include: Imaging tests. An X-ray image of your lungs may reveal an abnormal mass or nodule. A CT scan can reveal small lesions in your lungs that might not be detected on an X-ray. Sputum cytology. If you have a cough and are producing sputum, looking at the sputum under the microscope can sometimes reveal the presence of lung cancer cells. Tissue sample (biopsy). A sample of abnormal cells may be removed in a procedure called a biopsy.  Once your lung cancer has been diagnosed, your doctor will work to determine the extent (stage) of your cancer.”

MAYO (https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/lung-cancer/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20374627)

For many people, the first sign that they may have lung cancer is the appearance of a suspicious spot on a chest x-ray or a CT scan. But an image alone is not enough to tell you whether you have cancer and, if so, what type of cancer it is.

Most people who come to us for a lung cancer diagnosis first meet with a surgeon. He or she will work with pathologists, radiologists, and other lung cancer specialists to determine the specific type of lung cancer you have and how advanced it is. These findings help your disease management team develop the most successful treatment plan for you.

The first step is for your doctor to get a tissue sample using one of several biopsy methods. Then a pathologist — a type of doctor who specializes in diagnosing disease —who focuses on lung cancer studies the tissue under a microscope to determine whether you have lung cancer and, if so, what type. He or she will be able to tell this by looking closely at the cancer cells’ shape and other features.

Knowing which type of lung cancer you have will help your doctors to stage the tumor accurately and to begin identifying the best treatment approach. Understanding what type of cancer you have is also important because each type responds differently to certain chemotherapy drugs.

Testing healthy people for lung cancer

Several organizations recommend people with an increased risk of lung cancer consider annual computerized tomography (CT) scans to look for lung cancer. If you’re 55 or older and smoke or used to smoke, talk with your doctor about the benefits and risks of lung cancer screening.

Tests to diagnose lung cancer

If there’s reason to think that you may have lung cancer, your doctor can order a number of tests to look for cancerous cells and to rule out other conditions. In order to diagnose lung cancer, your doctor may recommend:

• Imaging tests. An X-ray image of your lungs may reveal an abnormal mass or nodule. A CT scan can reveal small lesions in your lungs that might not be detected on an X-ray.
• Sputum cytology. If you have a cough and are producing sputum, looking at the sputum under the microscope can sometimes reveal the presence of lung cancer cells.
• Tissue sample (biopsy). A sample of abnormal cells may be removed in a procedure called a biopsy.Your doctor can perform a biopsy in a number of ways, including bronchoscopy, in which your doctor examines abnormal areas of your lungs using a lighted tube that’s passed down your throat and into your lungs; mediastinoscopy, in which an incision is made at the base of your neck and surgical tools are inserted behind your breastbone to take tissue samples from lymph nodes; and needle biopsy, in which your doctor uses X-ray or CT images to guide a needle through your chest wall and into the lung tissue to collect suspicious cells.A biopsy sample may also be taken from lymph nodes or other areas where cancer has spread, such as your liver.

Treatment Options for Lung Cancer Patients