Ashley's Medical Bill Fund

Hello. I'm Ashley. This is the story about how I ended up finding out I have Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures. In December of 2018, I had my first seizure. My mom found me on the bathroom floor shaking. Every muscle in my body was tense and my eyes were rolled back. My dad called 911 and I was taken by ambulance to the hospital where I was referred to MNCEP. In January 2019, I had my first visit with MNCEP and Dr. Shams. I was hooked up to an hour long EEG. There was wires all over my head and I was told to try and sleep. At that appointment I was told that from my history of concussions and my history of meningitis, that I have epilepsy. Later in January 2019, I went for a week long stay at the University of Minnesota hospital for a long EEG. All the wires were hooked up and my hair was in braids. After 5 days they got what they needed and determined I had nocturnal Grand Mal seizures and I was cleared to keep my license and continue to work. Fast forward... Over the months I'd have occasional seizures in my sleep. I was on lamotrigine and gabapentin to keep them at bay. I hadn't had a single one while awake since my first one. September 2019. This is when everything started to get real and started to change my life. I had a seizure while awake and was taken to the hospital by my boyfriend John Bauer. After which we determined it was a medication imbalance and I wasnt absorbing enough lamotrigine. I was sent home after a few days and thought that would be the end of it. The following week I have another while awake. This was all new as I'd never had these before. My entire body was exhausted and I knew I had to go to work tomorrow. Then my son Chance has a fever and I called into work to stay home with him. Only a half hour later my life changed. On Monday September 30th, I had 1 seizure, followed by another, and another. 4 in a row with no recovery time. My entire body ached and I had no memory of what happened. 911 was called and the paramedics used adivan with no prevail. In the ambulance on the way to the hospital I seized for 8 minutes straight. On Monday September 30th I had 32 Grand Mal seizures in one day. I was tired. Confused and weak. By the end of the week it was estimated I had over 160 seizures. But this time at Regions hospital I had answers. It's not epilepsy. Its Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures. PNES. That simple diagnosis changed everything. PNES stems from the brain not being able to process a past trauma. I am not in control of these seizures and they are as real as epileptic ones with one key exception. My brain waves stay the same during my seizures. This means the seizures cant kill me. Since that day I got diagnosed I had to quite my job, I cant drive, I have many doctor appointments, I cant be alone and u have no memory of anything. In my mind yesterday was the 23rd of September. I have multiple seizures everyday but I'm in the road to recovery. So many loving people have reached out and asked how they can help and where they can donate to help with medical bills and prescription costs. I cant thank you enough for even reaching out. I now know I have epilepsy and PNES seizures.