I had complex partial and grand mal seizures in my childhood and in my young adult years. I had many days when I would have several seizures in one day and would need to sleep after having a seizure. The seizure medications that I took never completely controlled my seizures. I had learning difficulties as a result of having epilepsy and taking up to three seizure medications at a time. My parents tried everything they could to help me gain better seizure control, but I continued to have seizures into my adulthood.
After graduating from high school, I went to college to pursue a degree in education. Even though I faced challenges of having seizures while going to college, I was determined to earn a college degree. It was my junior year in college when my neurologist informed me that I could undergo medical tests to determine if I was a candidate for epilepsy brain surgery. Without hesitation, I accepted the opportunity to find out if my type of epilepsy could be cured through brain surgery. At the age of twenty-two, I found out that I was an excellent candidate for brain surgery. When I was twenty-three years old, I underwent five hours of brain surgery. I woke up knowing that I made it through surgery and with a renewed hope of having a better quality of life.
I have a degree in elementary education, a masters degree in special education, and a masters degree in school leadership. I am a special education teacher, I drive, and I live independently. In my book, I share how epilepsy impacted my mental health, my education, and my outlook of my future. I wrote my story to share what I went through with having seizures and to give hope to those that have epilepsy and to those that have a loved one that has epilepsy. My book is entitled, In My Right Mind, My Life with Epilepsy. It can be found at Barnes and Noble, and can be ordered through most bookstores.