Never be Ashamed of Your Epilepsy

I've been epileptic over 45 years and never been embarrassed by it. When 1st diagnosed-age 16- I was grateful to find an explanation for my 'weirdness'.Its simply due to a short circuit in regular brain activity. The more I researched it the more fascinated-so many geniuses/inventors have had it also. So little is known about our complex brains its easy to understand why most seizures are unexplained. Mine have never been controlled & always linked to my hormones-the worst always occurred just before my period started. My friends and family knew about this and knew what to do when I had a seizure and how to " deal" with it just like I did. My mother-born 1912-researched it also and was able to get me a scholarship for college because of my epilepsy. My husband-1978-knew I was epileptic & always helped me also. I had 5 pregnancies, three were severely deformed (due to the meds I was on then) but I was able to have 2 beautiful kids. Now there are meds which will not hurt a fetus at all! My husband died suddenly in 2000 and I think I was able to deal with this because my epilepsy has made me a stronger person. I thought I'd never want another but 6 1/5 years after I accidently met a wonderful intelligent man who I have been with for over ten years now. Guess what brought us together- My Epilepsy!! When I told him about it-our 1st conversation-he told me of his daughter having it also as a child due to her cerebral palsy and it went from there. (I even gave him my real phone #) Like my children he has seen me have many seizures, knows how to deal with them and that they will pass. I now have daily partials and I always tell people about them so they will understand. Most times when I first mention my epilepsy someone will tell me of theirs or a freinds/relatives also. Epilepsy is not terminal like diabetes, cancer etc-so be grateful for that. The more you learn the more you will understand about your own. Keep an open mind for future treatments also.