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November is Epilepsy Awarness Month..are you doing your part???

Thu, 10/30/2008 - 11:21

November is Epilepsy Awarness Month are you doing your part? I think
if we all ban together and write big television stations and large news
shows MAYBE just MAYBE we could get a part in there show. Please do
your part in this and help us get air time to give some Awarness for
Epilepsy here are some ideas:

1.) Contact your local T.V. Stations

2.) Contact the Today Show - Contact info.- today@nbc.com

3.) Contact Good Morning America ~ Contact Info - http://abcnews.go.com/Site/page?id=3068843

4.) Contact Oprah ~  Contact Info - http://www.oprah.com/contactus

5.) Live w/ Regis and Kelly ~ http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/regisandkelly/fe...

Contact Kelly at http://bventertainment.go.com/tv/buenavista/regisandkelly/sp...

These are just 5 ways to contact people!!! There are so many more, this is just a start!!! And I have even written a little text for you to send in the email if you don't want to  put your personal story!

November Is Epilepsy Awareness Month

Facts on Epilepsy:
•    More than 3 million people in the U.S. have some form of epilepsy. About 200,000 new cases of seizure disorders and epilepsy are diagnosed each year.
•    Approximately 180,000 cases of epilepsy are newly diagnosed each year in the United States (about 493 new cases per day).
•    Seizures result in up to 42,000 deaths in the United States each year -- more than the number of deaths from breast cancer!
•    Epilepsy  is more wide spread than diabetes according to Dr. Taleman of the World Health Organization

What is Epilepsy????
Epilepsy is a neurological condition. It is the term for more than 20 different types of seizure disorders produced by brief, temporary changes in the brain's electrical system. These brief malfunctions mean that more the usual amount of electrical energy passes between cells. These changes are manifested in what we call seizures. Seizures are a major national health problem.

Epilepsy can affect anyone, at any age, at any time. Epilepsy is a chronic neurological disorder which creates medical, economic, educational, and emotional and social problems of such dimensions that it is imperative that services provided by the Epilepsy Foundation be available to children, teens, adults, and the elderly in our community.
When do people develop epilepsy?

30% of cases develop before the age of five. 70% of cases develop before the age of 18. However, the incidence of seizure disorders is growing rapidly in older adults. While medical technology has enabled people to survive heart attacks, strokes, brain tumors, and other such conditions, people often develop seizure disorders following such medical emergencies. In fact, there are now as many cases of epilepsy in those over the age of 60 as in those under the age of 10.

Moreover, while newer medical treatments can significantly control many types of epilepsy, 40-50% of cases remain medically uncontrolled.

Okay so when you copy and paste you may have to change it up a little but it still is a little info on Epilepsy that helps them learn a little more. 

Please do your part and help get the word out there. We can make a diffrence. 

<3

Sassy

Comments

Re: November is Epilepsy Awarness Month..

Submitted by diana-gaidheal on Tue, 2008-11-04 - 17:08
I was also thinking of writing Oprah and that Dr. Oz might help explain it. Interesting - 2 minds think alike.  

Re: November is Epilepsy Awarness Month..

Submitted by seakats on Tue, 2008-11-04 - 23:09
Go for it!  It helps to have more than one person telling her staff that this is an important issue!  I sent a message full of the facts and not as full of the thoughts/feelings/emotions.  The more people the better!  Good luck!  :o)

Re: November is Epilepsy Awarness Month

Submitted by stephsobota on Mon, 2008-11-03 - 09:12
 

I think it’s very important to get airtime on major TV shows in order to get info about e out there in the public sphere. If Oprah says it, if Diane Sawyer says it, if Regis says it, then a lot of people will listen. I think I just might email GMA.

I also believe it’s also important to get the word out about e on a personal level, too – to be one of millions of ambassadors who reach people in person. Graham Greene wrote in his autobiography that, “Epilepsy, cancer and leprosy—these are the three medical terms which rouse the greatest fear in the untutored.” So be a tutor and like Rick said – put people at ease. (Sometimes easier said than done, I know – my seizures, although partial, often start out with a sudden howl, which can scare the pants off people, even if they know me well. Dang you, frontal lobe!)  

It seems like what you can do on a personal level depends on you and your environment. What I’m doing is wearing a clip-on lavender hair extension – I stole this idea from my buddy who is a breast cancer survivor and died a shock of her hair pink last month. (I was too chicken to dye a part of my hair lavender, so I settled for the hair extension.) Earlier this semester I dedicated a whole class talking about epilepsy – I’m teaching a course on Dostoevsky. I had the kids read excerpts from “The Idiot” as well as some articles written by neurologists. I talked about the different kinds of epilepsies, and the different parts of the brain where seizures can originate. This month I also have a link to epilepsy.com in my syllabus. And yes ….I had a couple seizures in later classes that made the lessons more, well, personal.   Embarrassing, but heck, somehow appropriate.

So my two kopecks’ worth this: absolutely contact TV networks and shows! So many people watch them and take note of what they say. But also be a personal ambassador – even a small gesture will help, because those small gestures can be multiplied by millions of people and a lot of good can be done. (Sry – that last bit is actually Dostoevsky’s idea from “Brothers Karamazov.” It’s a lofty idea, but a correct one, I think.)

Steph

I think it’s very important to get airtime on major TV shows in order to get info about e out there in the public sphere. If Oprah says it, if Diane Sawyer says it, if Regis says it, then a lot of people will listen. I think I just might email GMA.

I also believe it’s also important to get the word out about e on a personal level, too – to be one of millions of ambassadors who reach people in person. Graham Greene wrote in his autobiography that, “Epilepsy, cancer and leprosy—these are the three medical terms which rouse the greatest fear in the untutored.” So be a tutor and like Rick said – put people at ease. (Sometimes easier said than done, I know – my seizures, although partial, often start out with a sudden howl, which can scare the pants off people, even if they know me well. Dang you, frontal lobe!)  

It seems like what you can do on a personal level depends on you and your environment. What I’m doing is wearing a clip-on lavender hair extension – I stole this idea from my buddy who is a breast cancer survivor and died a shock of her hair pink last month. (I was too chicken to dye a part of my hair lavender, so I settled for the hair extension.) Earlier this semester I dedicated a whole class talking about epilepsy – I’m teaching a course on Dostoevsky. I had the kids read excerpts from “The Idiot” as well as some articles written by neurologists. I talked about the different kinds of epilepsies, and the different parts of the brain where seizures can originate. This month I also have a link to epilepsy.com in my syllabus. And yes ….I had a couple seizures in later classes that made the lessons more, well, personal.   Embarrassing, but heck, somehow appropriate.

So my two kopecks’ worth this: absolutely contact TV networks and shows! So many people watch them and take note of what they say. But also be a personal ambassador – even a small gesture will help, because those small gestures can be multiplied by millions of people and a lot of good can be done. (Sry – that last bit is actually Dostoevsky’s idea from “Brothers Karamazov.” It’s a lofty idea, but a correct one, I think.)

Steph

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