Epilepsy and the burdens of not driving.

Re: Epilepsy and the burdens of not driving.

Submitted by kampbyll on Thu, 2013-07-04 - 00:45

i started with epilepsy when i was about 12 or 13 , but like any other normal teen i did get a drivers lic. at the legal age at that time it was under control , i would have 1 to 2 a year it was not as a big deal as some others , but when they happened i couldnt drive for an amount of time or it just got to the point i didnt have a doctor or go to the hospital any longer fear of them taking my lic. away about 10 years ago i got to the point where i was so tired of hearing i cant do this or that because of my epilepsy so i applied to truck driving school , went through the school took the test and had a class A cdl for 3 years , that is a scary thought i know , but it felt natural to me , like i was born to drive a truck i was so good at it , due to a family member telling my boss of my medical problem i lost my Lic. i lived in the hills of Kentucky after that and i was having seizures every week 3 to 4 times a week for a time of 2 years , it was so bad i could not even work or do anything with having one , im not sure if it was the high terrain i lived in or the stress of not being in a truck , that caused this , i was put on disability for this reason sure didnt feel like much of anything but a waste of time , and went through a dark depression , at the end of the 2 years i ended up in upstate NY closer to family and since i have been in NY i have had 1 seizure that was 3 years ago , i had to retake my DL test and finally got to drive a car again , i know some would think i am only thinking of myself because i drive , but im one of the lucky ones when it comes to epilepsy i can feel the seizure come on before it happens i have about a 10 15 min window from the time i start feeling ill just say strange , so i have plenty of time to get off the road before someone gets hurt or i hurt myself , anyway 6 months ago i got a letter from the DMV that said im no longer on the medical program because i have been seizure free for such a long time , this has never happen to me before but i was excited about that letter , i only see my doctor once every 6 months now just for refills , and i have been doing great , but this scares me , im able to do a lot more than before , and everyday its in the back of my head when in the next one , and at the same time im wanting back into my 18 wheeler again , after much debate and research i found out in NY i can get a CDL but only for intrastate , meaning i have to stay in NY , and that would be fine but there are 2 problems with it , i could never get hired from a company with this and wouldnt make near enough if i did , so im not , i have had my struggles through life with this and driving , it has been a battle but for now i can say im winning , when will the next seizure happen i dont know , but it will , i do know that , so since lights dont bother me , im a photographer for now , i travel a lot , and it can pay the bills , i have 5 great kids that i love very much , and a wife that supports me in whatever i do ,this is my story and if anyone reads this and wants to be a truck driver dont i had to lie and cheat my way through to get to that point , its not worth the trouble , and good luck to everyone , thanks for reading