to challenge this driving ban?

[AKMD]

I had a major operation a couolenof weeks ago which thankfully went very well and I'm now home. While I was in hospital a nurse was taking my blood pressure when I lost consciousness for 2 minutes and she couldn't rouse me. The hospital are treating this as a seizure and are requiring me to have MRI and EEG scans and to see a neurological consultant. In the meanwhile, I cannot drive, which means that I can't go to work or take my one year old to nursery.

Now, bearing in mind that the nurse taking my blood pressure got a reading of 94/46, I was on all sorts of medication, including opiates, and she had woken me in the middle of the night from a deep sleep, AIBU to think that I fainted and/or just went back to sleep again and that the hospital are going way over the top and to challenge the driving ban? I wouldn't mind so much if they were being quick with the scans but the MRI is booked for the end of October and I won't see a consultant until 2 weeks after that. This is going to cause me serious problems with work and childcare and potentially cost me an awful lot of money.

Pay for private scans if you can. Or ask your GP to monitor your blood pressure for a few weeks.

I'm not sure you can speed things up, other than going the private route suggested by FabbyChic. A friend of mine missed his footing on an uneven step, fell and fractured his skull; this was also treated as a seizure and it took many months before he got his license back. :(

YABU
I am sure the nurse/hospital have taken all the relevant facts into consideration. Or do you know better?
I agree it is a PITA for you at the moment but imagine how much a PITA it would be if you did have a seizure whilst driving and killed somebody. If it was my LO, I would want somebody's head on a plate if they knowingly let you drive whilst under investigation for seizures.

look at it from the other side. If you or your child were hit by a driver who had previously had a possibly seizure and was waiting for further tests/scans to check but was adament that it wasn't... would you say 'oh it's ok because it hadn't been proved yet' and they know best and it's more important for them to get to work. Or would you be saying they shouldn't of been driving until it was proven they were ok too...

I know what you're saying Honey but even the neurologist who examined me the next day thought it was taking the mick a bit. The hospital is also not in my home town, which means at least three trips into central London.

By the time you challenge it, you probably would have had your results.

Doctors have to err on the side of caution, you don't know whether you are fit to drive and neither do they until the tests are done.

I'm not sure if it is the same across the whole of the UK but when this happened to me in Wales I was given a 12 month driving ban however, after investigations (which took a couple of months) the neurologist concluded that mine were migraine related and unlikely to happen again as long as I took my migraine medication. He sent me and my GP letters saying this and my ban was lifted.
There isn't much you can do except go down the private route as Fabbychic said, and I think you have to prepare that this may last longer than a couple of weeks. If there really isn't a problem then you'll be given your license back soon but they have to err on the side of caution here. You could kill an innocent person if you have a seizure behind the wheel. From what you've said though I'm sure it'll all be sorted soonish.

No, you are not being unreasonable to think you may have just fainted, you can think whatever you like. However, the medical prefessionals would be negligent to let you drive if they, being more qualified than you, think it may have been a seizure.

I should also say actually that mine were absence seizures not grand mals. I'm not sure if that makes any difference?

The hospital not being in your home town is irrelevant.

I think you do need to pay to be seen privately, or at least go to your GP and ask them to monitor your bp. You never know, your GP might be able to write a letter or something to speed things up a bit.

I know it's ahuge hassle, but if a medical porofessional had told you not to drive, then you shouldn't be driving.

Even if you only had a minor accident like crashing into a bollard, causing no harm to anyone, your insurance would still be invalid.

My dad had his licence taken away when he was diagnosed with a brain aneurysum. He was a HGV driver and he had to give it up, meaning he couldn't work, with a family to support. He sat and cried. He was eventually allowed his licence back to drive a car but not a lorry- it has meant a massive lifestyle change. But, you know, that's just life- it sucks.
I hope your tests come back clear. In the mean time can you not ask friends and family to help out with the nursery run? Or how about asking if one of the staff can pick him up from your house and drop him back? It's always worth asking. I work in a day nursery and I know that the girls would do this no problem for a small fee.

Would you prefer to wait and find out it was nothing and that you are fine or drive and find out with your baby in the car that you are not fine?

Just to say, I would never drive without valid insurance.

It is a massive (and expensive) inconvenience to me not to be able to drive. I would be upset about it but wouldn't actually challenge it if it was clear that I had had a seizure and it was likely to happen again. So yes, in a way the inconvenience is irrelevant.

I'm well aware that I'm not a doctor but even the trained, specialised neurologist said it looked more like a faint but that they needed to be on the safe side. Given that I am now not on opiates and my blood pressure is normal, it is unlikely to happen again so I don't think I'm being particularly unreasonable to be hacked off about the inconvenience that this is causing me, including three trips into central London when I don't even live in London.

Taxi for a few months is easier in the long run than crashing the car with you and your child into another car full of kids.

It's hard having your licence taken away buts it's not the end of the world

the OP isn't saying she's going to drive without a licence, just that she wants to challenge the actual ban. OP, if you can find a way to get a second opinion or find a way to speed things up to have the ban lifted sooner, then I don't think YABU at all. However, unfortunately as someone else said it might take longer to challenge it than to just wait for the results. Would the neurologist that you saw before be able to help maybe? Also, could you not get transferred to a hospital nearer your home?

I don't think other posters are being fair to you really. I'm sure I would be just as annoyed if I was perfectly able to work but just couldn't get there because someone was worried about being sued extra cautious. Hope you get the all-clear soon.

Sorry but I think YABU. The thing with seizures is that they can manifest in many different ways and don't always look the same. And I can't help thinking that the medical professionals who witnessed this have more idea of what may be a seizure than you do.

YANBU to be 'hacked off' at the massive inconvenience and expense this will mean for your, but IMO it is something you will just have to get on with, knowing that if you are right, it won't happen again and in a year you will get your license back.

Whatever you think and whatever the inconvenience, the law is there to protect you and everyone around you (including the DC you would be driving around). You cannot be 100% you are safe to drive until more time has passed and more tests have been done.

I am sorry for the situation you find yourself in, BTW.

I think to challenge the ban you would need to have MRI and EEG results to prove there was no risk of seizures
so Catch 22
as others have said you could try paying for private tests but that will be costly too