You Are Not Alone!

Epilepsy affects 2.2 million Americans and 6.5 million people worldwide. Even though it may not feel that there are that many people with epilepsy. You would be surprised there might be someone right down the street with it.

As I was growing up I was lucky (if you consider it lucky) to have someone at the same elementary school and in the same grade as me who had epilepsy as well. Her name was Kathleen. Kathleen suffered from complex partial seizures like me, but her seizures were not as severe as mine. During this time we became really good friends and could rely on one another for support. As we grew up together in elementary school we treated each other like any other friend. We never compared our seizures or discussed it. Playing and enjoying each others company was more important.

However, after 5^th grade Kathleen moved to Florida. We continued to stay in contact and even to this day we keep in touch with one another. As we grew up we did not let epilepsy get in our way. We would talk about boys, school and what we were doing in life.  Whether one of us has seizures still or not epilepsy is one thing we can talk about.

To this day we will always be able to talk about the challenges that we encounter as women with epilepsy. From talking about the different types of medications we will be on to the challenges we will face in life. At this time in our life we have been talking about pregnancy and being on seizure medications. This is a challenge in itself as taking any anti-convulsant medication is considered high risk for pregnancy. At the same time being on an anti-convulsant to prevent any seizures from happening is important as well because having a seizure during pregnancy can be dangerous to the mother and the unborn baby.

If I had never known Kathleen I do not know who I could talk to about the struggles that I have encountered with epilepsy. Not only do I know I can trust talking to her about epilepsy, but I know that she can relate to me and understand my everyday struggles.  This is why I find it is important to have resources available to you, whether you have a friend with epilepsy or belong to a support group. If you do not know someone with epilepsy you would be surprised by how quickly you could find someone that is experiencing a similar situation as you.