Living with Epilepsy and Seizures

My first seizure attack occurred while I was sleeping on my living room couch. My mother witnessed this and quickly came to my aid. Since my mother was a RN, she knew how to stop the seizure attack. When the seizure subsided, I woke up. The epileptic seizures lasted for several years but suddenly disappeared like I never had the disorder in the first place.

Ever seizure that occurred happened when I was asleep. After each episode I would wake up and see family members looking at me with terror, which always was alarming. After the first attack my family and I believed that this was an isolated event and that we would simply look past this. However, two weeks later I had another seizure and we all knew that this problem would not go away.

We visited a specialists and he administered several test. I have to say that these tests were not your garden variety ones, rather similar tests that lab rats endure when being examined and probed. The most uncomfortable exam was when a cold sticky substance was put in various locations on my scalp and then circular pads with wires attached, were placed in the sticky adhesive. Furthermore, I was lucky to find out that I was allergic to a shot that was administered that day, which resulted in hives all over my body.

The results came back and the doctor notified my mother. At the time when she received the results, she did not tell me the bad news (she did several weeks later), the doctor said that my brain activity showed severe damage and that I needed to have surgery. I could tell something was wrong because my Mom looked so worried. Immediately we went to a different doctor for a second opinion. Fortunately the results were more favorable but I was still diagnosed with having epilepsy. It seems that the results from the first test were erroneous.

Now, the doctor prescribed medicine for my condition. The medicine was called tegritol and I did not enjoy the taste. When I was taking the medicine, my growth seemed to temporarily stop. Before taking tegritol I was one of the tallest kids in my class, however after taking the medicine I stopped growing and eventually I was considered short and skinny for my age.

My last seizure occurred when I was thirteen and ever since I have not had another episode. I stopped taking the medication and as predicted, I grew 8 inches and 80 pounds in one year. It seemed that my life was back to normal

In retrospect, the seizures stole a part of my life because of the constant worrying and limitations from activities that could triggered a seizure. Furthermore, until writing this passage I really never gave any thought about the years I spent with seizures.