Hello, friends. I just want to share how I personally kicked some epilepsy butt. I was born with cerebral palsy and epilepsy in 1982 due to a stroke in the birth canal. I am now 43 and doing the best I ever have in my entire life.
Throughout my childhood, teenage years, and even young adulthood, I did not take my medication as prescribed. I guess I was in denial that I needed it, and guess what? I had seizures. I wanted nothing to do with marijuana until I was introduced to it while living in Colorado, and my seizures slowly decreased. Once I returned to my home state of Ohio, I continued to use it. I applied for a card and was approved once it became legal for medical use.
Between 2012 and 2014, I was foolish and kept drinking while living with epilepsy. Looking back, I feel I may have been borderline alcoholic—definitely drinking far too much for my own good. I put myself through three different tonic-clonic seizures, even though I had never had one before. I spent at least 45 minutes in one seizure and was on life support for at least a few days. The doctors told my family that if I survived, I would need 24/7 assistance, and they should prepare for a funeral. I was later told that I regained consciousness within 10 minutes and had no additional brain injury beyond what I already had. Even after that, I still did not learn my lesson and continued to drink, putting myself through two more tonic-clonic seizures.
In 2014, I realized I had been seizure-free for around eight months, but I was still drinking. On top of that, I foolishly took a sleep aid, and that combination triggered another tonic-clonic seizure. When I realized the date—the night before my daughter’s birthday, while she was living out of state—I went outside, looked up at the sky, and said, “Please God, don’t let me have a tonic-clonic seizure on her birthday. I will never drink again.” Thankfully, I made it through, and after that I went more than four years without a single seizure. I will be 11 years sober in September. Thank you for letting me share my story.