Living with epilepsy; your stories

Hello Lauren! My name is Michael I've had epilepsy since I was 10 and a half, for 21 and a half years. It started during Spring Break when I was in the 6th grade. My mom is the person that first responded to your story.We have helped start an epilepsy monitoring unit in Memphis Tennessee since epilepsy for adults is terrible here. I've had right temporal lobectomy surgery which completely erased my memory when I was 13. About to have my third VNS ( Vegus Nerve Stimulator) put in me since mine is so old and about to run out of batteries. At one time, I use to average 1 grand-mal seizure a day and on my bad days I would have up to as much as 8 of them. Luckily for me, my VNS stopped many of my grand mals and then I started having petti mal then years later I started having partial complex and now I usually have just absence seizures. I've had many different kinds of seizures. I only average 1-5 a month now. We are also going to start an Epilepsy Supporter Group. Every year we go to Washington for the National walk for epilepsy which is a great and fun thing to do if you have epilepsy. Thousands of people with epilepsy just like us. I have had 5 jobs and 2 of them have laid me off cause of just having 1 seizure on the job within the the first 2 weeks of being on the job. I had to quit 2 of the jobs cause of them treating me terribly and 1 I just quit to go to college. I have been a Volunteer at the hospital for 11 years now. When I had brain surgery and they erased my memory it took me years too learn most of the stuff I learn when I was young back again cause I woke up from the surgery not knowing who I was, where I was, who my family was or a word of English. I've nearly died by having a seizure in the tub years ago when taking a bath while no one was home and I have lost track of how many times I have fallen. A couple of years ago I fell in the kitchen, hit face first and broke my eye glasses and the broken glass from my eye glasses stabbed me right above the eye and the rest stuck in my head when I woke up in blood. Glad you joined the epilepsy foundation Lauren!  If you want to email me about your novel and know more about me, you can email me at sixfootroach2000@Yahoo.com Hope you have a great day! ;-)

Hello Lauren! My name is Michael I've had epilepsy since I was 10 and a half, for 21 and a half years. It started during Spring Break when I was in the 6th grade. My mom is the person that first responded to your story.We have helped start an epilepsy monitoring unit in Memphis Tennessee since epilepsy for adults is terrible here. I've had right temporal lobectomy surgery which completely erased my memory when I was 13. About to have my third VNS ( Vegus Nerve Stimulator) put in me since mine is so old and about to run out of batteries. At one time, I use to average 1 grand-mal seizure a day and on my bad days I would have up to as much as 8 of them. Luckily for me, my VNS stopped many of my grand mals and then I started having petti mal then years later I started having partial complex and now I usually have just absence seizures. I've had many different kinds of seizures. I only average 1-5 a month now. We are also going to start an Epilepsy Supporter Group. Every year we go to Washington for the National walk for epilepsy which is a great and fun thing to do if you have epilepsy. Thousands of people with epilepsy just like us. I have had 5 jobs and 2 of them have laid me off cause of just having 1 seizure on the job within the the first 2 weeks of being on the job. I had to quit 2 of the jobs cause of them treating me terribly and 1 I just quit to go to college. I have been a Volunteer at the hospital for 11 years now. When I had brain surgery and they erased my memory it took me years too learn most of the stuff I learn when I was young back again cause I woke up from the surgery not knowing who I was, where I was, who my family was or a word of English. I've nearly died by having a seizure in the tub years ago when taking a bath while no one was home and I have lost track of how many times I have fallen. A couple of years ago I fell in the kitchen, hit face first and broke my eye glasses and the broken glass from my eye glasses stabbed me right above the eye and the rest stuck in my head when I woke up in blood. Glad you joined the epilepsy foundation Lauren!  If you want to email me about your novel and know more about me, you can email me at sixfootroach2000@Yahoo.com Hope you have a great day! ;-)

Thank you so much for sharing your story with me Michael! How amazing of you and your mother to start a monitoring unit in an area rampant with epilepsy. It sounds to me like your youth was filled with hardship; I can't imagine going through a lobectomy at such a young age then having to relearn everything you once knew because you basically lost your entire life. I also know exactly what you mean regarding the workforce; one manager at a previous business insulted my intelligence and insinuating that my epilepsy had made me into a moron, and then sacked me a couple of weeks after I had a tonic clonic seizure, smiling sweetly at me and in the presence of the person who was replacing me. Nice huh? You are clearly a brave man to have gone through so much pain, and you have a wonderful mother behind you, supporting you in every way she can. Thank you once again for being kind enough to share your journey with me, and i will definitely keep in touch with you! =)