I wasn’t born with epilepsy. The only time I saw anyone who had epilepsy was when I was in elementary school and they were in special classes and had to wear helmets. Growing up, the worst thing that I dealt with were kidney infections and a strep throat.
When I was 25 years old, I was in an extremely abusive relationship. My ex kicked me off of my bed, causing me to slam my face into a bureau. Then when I had to use the bathroom, he smashed the back of my head on the bathtub, causing me to go unconscious for an unknown amount of time. I had a slight stroke because of that.
Four years later, while I was in another bad relationship, I started having seizures after being intimate with my boyfriend at the time. I didn’t go to the hospital right away after the first seizure. It wasn’t until I regained consciousness and was still having seizures that I was rushed to the hospital. There at the hospital, I was finally diagnosed with epilepsy. I thought my life was over. The first thing I asked was if I was going to have to wear a helmet for the rest of my life because I couldn’t afford medication. I wasn’t on medication for three or four months, so I was continuously having seizures. I became pregnant with my daughter and still struggled with having seizures because nothing was explained to me about what would cause seizures and what I had to avoid.
I went to a movie and ended up having seizures for five days. When I finally got on medication, I started to feel normal, however there’s still a lot of things that I couldn’t do. I can’t go to a lot of concerts because of the flashing lights which meant I couldn’t go to see Blue Man Group who I absolutely love. I must avoid cop cars at night and any sort of strobe type of light because it could affect me. Extreme stress is pretty much the number one trigger of seizures. I have now been seizure free for five years. If there was a cure for epilepsy, I would feel human again. I would be able to do things that I’ve wanted to do, go places I’ve wanted to go, and just not feel like a freak. I am now 53 years old and there are times when I just cry because I can’t do certain things. I just want my life back.