Personal Narrative: Dealing With Seizures

Seizures or epilepsy are brain disorders where the person has repeated convulsions over a period of time. They’re episodes of disturbed brain activity that cause changes in attention and behavior. Seizures are considered the most common observed neurological dysfunction in children. They are very sudden intermittent episodes of altered consciousness lasting seconds to minutes and include involuntary tonic (stiffening of muscles) and clonic (altering contraction and relaxation of muscles) movements.

I sat there in my room with tears flowing down my blush pink cheeks. Wondering what was wrong with me, as a salty tear ran along my dried out chapped lips. I thought to myself,” Why am I so miserable? What did I do to deserve this? How am I going to escape this life?” I started to ponder that this was the end of my life, this is how I was going to be, sorrowful. At the lowest point of my life, mother came barging through the door with the look of cavernous concern on her face. She knew that it was time for something to be done, whether I agreed or not.

I awoke in terror. My sister was shaking uncontrollably. Screaming in fear, I jumped out of the bed we were sleeping in to go get my parents. The next thing I knew I was sitting bedside in my sister's hospital room. This is what I experienced when my sister had her first Epileptic Seizure. Although there were many questions and fears running through my mind, the skills and characteristics I possessed allowed me to live life unaffected.

Epilepsy is a disorder that anyone can get. Epilepsy happens in the AREGEF2 Gene, this can lead to a condition called Periventricular Heterotopia, in which brain cells, belong in the cortex are along the ventricles. Major causes that can lead to Epilepsy are head injuries or the disorder can get passed down through genetics. The symptoms of Epilepsy are: Whole body: Fainting or Fatigue, Muscular: Rhythmic muscle contractions, or muscle spasms, Sensory: Aura, or pins, and needles, Also common symptoms: Seizures, amnesia, anxiety, depression, headaches, sleepiness, staring spells, or temporary paralysis after a seizure.

The earliest memories I have are of being pulled out of my classroom in the first grade, and then being hospitalized on multiple occasions. Memories of being treated differently as a kid are still fresh in my mind. The reason behind such treatment was kept from me and the only explanation my family and doctors could afford was that I was “different”. It wasn't before medical school I understood that, I had epilepsy. Had my parents received appropriate knowledge about my condition before and had I received regular pediatric care, my epilepsy would have been diagnosed and treated earlier and effectively. This, however, is a harsh and unfortunate reality a lot of families with limited resources face. Coming to terms with my reality motivates me to work hard every day and pursue a career in pediatric neurology.

When I was just seven-years old, I was diagnosed with epilepsy. I’d been having small and frequent seizures my entire life without ever knowing of it until one day when I was shelling walnuts in front of the fireplace. Everything I ever knew was being stripped away from me. I no longer had control over any of the muscles in my body, my ability to speak, my actions, nor my sight. All I could do was relax and wait for my brain to catch up and regain control over my body. My life has been changed by epilepsy, but I will never let it control my life.

Seizures occur when abnormal signals from the brain and changes the way the body functions. Many people have seizures but they have different effects on them. Some people have a little shaking of their hands and do not lose consciousness, while others have a lot of shaking and do lose consciousness. While seizures have a range of life changing effects for adults, more needs to be focus on children.

When I was eight years old I learned what epilepsy was. My family was in the car driving to get dinner, with my dad driving. We were stopped at a stop light, and when it turned green we never moved. My mother looked over at my dad and realized he was having a seizure. At the time I did not know what that was; all I remember is a blur of my sister calling 911, and us going to the hospital. It was one of the scariest moments of my life; I thought my dad was dying. Later that night my mom explained to us what a seizure was, and that he was going to be okay. This was the first time my dad had a seizure, and the doctors did not know why. He was sent home from the emergency room that night with no answers and a shaken up family.

I have no idea what it is like for someone to be battling with epilepsy and I cannot image seeing my love ones go through that. It was interesting listening to Peter Aguero’s humor as he describes his perspective of his wife battling with epilepsy. I thought that the worse part was seeing your love go through a seizure. But Peter shared his story about the postictal stage, “after the seizure,” as he described his wife as a computer trying to reboot herself back online. I can image the vivid image and the loss of hope that Peter had as he holds his wife thinking that she was never coming back and already thinking about who to call in her family. It also was heartbreaking to hear that Sarah’s parents gave no support. That burden and the pressure

Now, I’m not going to discuss what happened to me, but more of what didn’t get told to me. When I went to the hospital I was confused, no one told me anything expect I would need surgery, and that I was going to be okay. Until this day I still don’t know everything that happened, I recently found out I had received

On May 9th, 2014, I had an unexpected seizure in the middle of the night. At the time my parents were asleep, and they were awoken in a state of shock. Seizures are really scary because they are unexpected. As a matter of fact, the people who go through them are totally unaware of their surroundings and are left vulnerable to the dangers around them. Because of this drastic event, I had to go through many time-consuming tests, one of which was the EEG, which took one whole day and night at the hospital. An EEG is a very complex, expensive and time-consuming system, also it is uncomfortable for patients, especially for young children.

Tony is a single, 50 year old Caucasian male still living with his mother and has one child which is a daughter 6 years old from a previous relationship in the past. He has never been married and currently not able to drive because of his seizure disorder because in the state of North Carolina he has to be seizure free for 1 year and approved by his family physician to legally drive. He relies on public transportation, friends and his mother in getting different places, such as going to the doctor, and visiting with his daughter. He has supervised visit with his daughter every other weekend due to the safety issues concerning his seizure disorder. Tony cannot be left alone because he does have a history of having seizures while no one is around

I don't know where to start. I'm 25, male, and I live in southern state. I suffer from epilepsy, depersonalization, depression, and hypothyroidism. I don't know what to do anymore...

It has been approximately one year since I was diagnosed with epilepsy. When I was initially diagnosed with this disease, I thought my life would never be the same. The doctor informed me that epilepsy is recurring seizures. A seizures are involuntary muscle movement. When I first found out about the news my initial thought was how did this occur. At first I was under the impression that my seizures were idiopathic meaning that the cause of them were unknown. But after further test and investigations the cause of my epilepsy was revealed. At the age of 46 I contacted a brain infection. The infection was treated with medication, but the infection was so severe that the after mass of the infection left scars on my brain. This is the main reason

When the seizure stops, my little girl is left worn out and loopy. Instead of giving in to her exhaustion, Alexis usually gets up and goes back to doing whatever it was she was doing before the seizure began. It is through her resilience, or her ability to get back up and keep fighting, I learned what being strong is all about. Now when I get a cold or some other illness, I do not whine or complain much. Instead, I think about her struggles and how she continues to smile through all her pain and discomfort, and I carry on. My daughter’s tenacity encourages me to be a better person.