living with

Children with Epilepsy

As a child: I was diagnosed with Epilepsy when I was 14 years old. I was sitting in my room one evening and my legs and arms began jerking. I remeber for months before I had noticed little twitches before I had gone to bed but I had heard people sometimes do that right before bed time so I didn't think anything of it. I never passed out or have a grand mal seizure. We were not sure at all what was going on. My mom and dad soon took me to the hospital where after tests they soon diagnosed me with juvenile myoclonic epilepsy. I was in the hospital for a while during their time trying to figure out my condition. Once released I was very weak and had very little energy. I did not understand epilepsy at the time and still being a child I didn't seem to care to much or know how to take care of the condition. They prescribed several medications, which I hated taking. Some had side effects and was soon taken off them. There were times during school I would fall right in the middle of class or at the lunch room. I always would laugh trying to not feel to embarassed. I also fell at home, down the stairs several times which was very scary. One flight of stairs had about 15 narrow carpeted stairs. There were even times during driving I would jerk which was very dangerous, again I was a child and had never researched or understood what Epilepsy was so I took it very lightly.

***Whether you are a child with epilepsy reading this or a parent of a child with epilepsy reading this I encourage you to take this condition seriously and talk to your doctors and find the medication and support you need to survive and be wise.

I have taken many test over the last almost 20 years of being diagnosed and tried a handful of medications. In my early years of being diagnosed I definatley had a hard head and didn't take epilepsy serious because I thought I could ignore it and it would go away, it did not.

As an adult: Once accepting and learning about the condition I knew I was going to start making better decisions for me and my family! I will say even in my adult years I had a hard head and at times tried to go off my medicine hoping that maybe they would go away. I have realized since a major incident that happened that I have got to understand my body better and be more sensative to it. I have given birth to 3 healthy, beautiful girls with my condition. Two of the pregnancies were a little more difficult with the seizures but the last one I had no problems at all! I have had some scary moments, where in 2009 I passed out in the passenger seat of our car and seized and was in the hospital for about 1 week. They took test after test to try to figure out what had happened. Mind you I have been taking my medicine nightly for years without a night missed. My doctor determined I had stress related seizures. I have found that my body reacts to stress with seizures and I am learning to find ways to deal with stress better. I see my doctor on a regular basis, take my medication every night, I exercise 5 days a week, eat healthy, try to have a good attitude about life and follow Christ everyday of my life! I believe your attitude and words you speak create the world around you. So with positive and encouraging words and a great attitude no matter your condition you can have wonderful and happy life!