Senior year has come at last! A person’s senior year is a time for fun and self-discovery. It’s the time to discover what you want to do with the rest of your life.
Not very many people are given life changing information right before their senior year. Fewer people find out that they have a neurological disorder called epilepsy. I was diagnosed with epilepsy on August 18, 2013.
I was sent to St. John’s Children’s Hospital in Springfield after I had already had three different seizures. After I had my very first seizure, I was sent to Passavant, and I barely remember that night because of the seriousness of that particular seizure.
Going through those seizures was one of the most difficult challenges I have ever faced in my entire life. They were so physically draining; going through that was unlike any pain I’ve ever felt in my entire life.
Luckily though after my short stay at the hospital I began researching epilepsy and I tried to sort out the facts from the typical stigma of epilepsy. I was amazed at what I found.
Over two million people have epilepsy, and there are at least 150,000 annual new cases in the Unites States alone. Also at least 65 million people have epilepsy worldwide, and yet there are some people who know very little about epilepsy.
For those who know nothing about this illness, epilepsy is a neurological disorder that can cause a brief disturbance in the brain. This disturbance causes the electrical energy in the brain to be more intense than normal. The disturbance causes the seizures.
I haven’t told this story to gain sympathy from anyone or to make people feel sorry for me. I just want to show the seriousness of how many lives epilepsy has affected and try to do my best to help. Also I want people to understand that you don’t have to be afraid of people who have this illness.
The Epilepsy Foundation is a wonderful organization that is working on a cure for epilepsy and its symptoms. It helps people with this illness stay active and gives people wonderful ways to help out individuals with epilepsy.
The mission statement of the Epilepsy Foundation is to: stop seizures and SUDEP (Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy), find a cure and overcome the challenges created by epilepsy through efforts including education, advocacy and research to accelerate ideas into therapies.
If you want to find out how you can make a difference, please go to www.epilepsyfoundation.org.