The MRI
Well my MRI results are in!
And the results?
Believe it or not, according to the images of my brain on the MRI, I have what the Neurologist considers to be a “Normal & Healthy Looking Brain”. I know, I know, I’m just as shocked as some of you are as well!
What I was told could possibly be a few potential problems that showed on the CT Scan on the day of my seizure, proved to be just a blood vessel on my brain that was slightly contorted due to a combination of my fall and the amount of times I banged my head on the floor during my seizure, as well as the contrast dye used in my second CT Screening.
So all us well right?
Wrong.
The Doctors still need to find out what triggered my initial seizure and find a way to prevent future seizures from occurring in my brain moving forward.
The EEG Test
Have you ever had an EEG Test?
Well, I’ve had two. My first one being at 1:45pm and my second one being at 3:30am. Yes, I said 3:30am. As my seizure had no known triggers leading up to the incident, the Neurologists wanted me to take one EEG Test in a rested state and the other EEG Test in a sleep deprived state in order to find out how my brain activity changes from one state to another.
The EEG Test itself is painless and actually pretty cool to watch if you have an interest in the human body like I do.
The Technician attaches roughly 15 electrons to your skull and records the activity of your brain waves while she asks you a series of questions followed by showing you a series of images that include flashing multicoloured lights that you have to look directly into while she performs the exam.
After all that excitement you are asked to try and fall asleep for 30 minutes which surprisingly I was able to do both times.
The Results?
I don’t have any yet. Unfortunately the worst thing about this entire experience has been the waiting process and perhaps the anticipation of the fear of the unknown. Hopefully within a week’s time I will have more answers and another blog to release.
With that said, if you are like me and want to have an actual understanding as to what is going on within your own body or in my case the brain, then you’ll be proactive and will read and research as much as you possibly can when an incident like the one I had happens to you.
However I should remind you to not just go and self diagnosed yourself directly off Google or go down the rabbit hole of Wikipedia and read all the worst case scenarios. I’ve always been extremely weary of what I read online and always make sure to fact check anything and everything before forming my own opinion on a subject.
I also trust my team of Doctors and have faith in the medical system. But at the same time I understand that it’s important to remain my own advocate and do my job to ensure everything is being done to help prevent something like this from happening to me again.
So What’s Next?
As I continue to wait for answers, I also continue to live my life. My seizure occurred on Wednesday, March 10th, 2021. Since that time, I’ve continued to work every single day both on and off the floor and have only taken two days off from my own workouts which were scheduled rest days anyways.
I refuse to play the victim card and allow what happened to me to dictate how I choose to live my own life moving forward. I’m obviously careful and train with caution, and I am making sure to go to bed at a reasonable hour now. However I’m not going to live in fear because of my seizure and I’m not going to “Slow Down” or “Take It Easy” because I am at risk for future seizures.
I’ve always been a firm believer that the more active and fit someone is, the better chance he or she has at fighting off viruses, diseases and other potential life threatening illnesses. No, we don’t get to choose our genetics and even the healthiest of healthy people get sick and diagnosed with diseases such as cancer, type 2 diabetes, heart disease, etc. every single day.
But my argument is why not give your body the absolute best possible chance of fighting off these infectious diseases and life threatening illnesses by taking care of it by providing it with regular exercise and adequate nutrition on a regular basis?
In my opinion, when a health scare like the one I had happens to us, we have two options in life:
Option 1: Stop everything you are doing. Forget your goals. And live in fear as you sit back and anxiously wait for answers.
Or
Option 2: Go and live your life to its absolute fullest. Continue to crush your goals each and everyday. And be proactive by taking care of your body and your health to best of your own natural capability.
For myself personally, Option 1 was and never will be an Option for me though.
“Dream as if you’ll live forever, live as if you’ll die today.”
James Dean
Yours in Good Health,
Nick Cosgrove
Forever Fit Performance