At the age of 15 I had a seizure and I was wondering what my life would hold. I didn’t want anyone to know that I had epilepsy. I thought would I become one of those kids in the “special” class and would people see me as different? So young and so uninformed on epilepsy, I had no idea that I could lead a full life while having this medical condition. For the most part my epilepsy hadn’t really affected my life.
I have grown to be confident in telling people that I have epilepsy and that there is more to life than this condition. However, almost eight years ago I gave birth to my first child and realized that epilepsy did affect my life. Research now shows that the antiepileptic drug I was prescribed can cause developmental delay in children when exposed in utero. You see the medication that I took everyday to have my epilepsy not affect me on a daily basis has now affected my sweet baby…..
I cannot even begin to describe the guilt and emotions that I live with as I watch my son fighting everyday to overcome his challenges at such a young age. I see this world through his eyes now….I have decided to fight this horrible condition that continues to affect so many people. I was lucky to be in the 70% of people that responds to treatment, yet my epilepsy has now affected my son. Would you call that lucky? Some people do….My passion is to have people realize that the 70% of people that respond to treatment still have epilepsy affect their lives. When will this end….
One day when we find a cure……….
