My name is Allen. I am a senior in high school and live in Kansas. I have complex partial seizures. I am writing this because I am going through a lot of the same problems you are. I think there should be more stories written by people with epilepsy who are the same age.

When I first started having seizures, every two or three weeks, I would get this feeling like someone was behind me or I'd feel as if I knew I was forgetting something. These episodes would last between 15 seconds and two or three minutes. They would happen on and off for a day or two. The first one that my mom noticed was when I was in the 6th grade. She thought that I had gotten a concussion at football, but neither the coach nor I remembered a hit that would have caused one. My father witnessed another one of these episodes while we were in the car. He tells me that I suddenly turn my head, fidget with my hands, and repeat a few words over and over, but all I know is that when I've had a seizure I don't understand what people are saying to me. When we finally saw a neurologist, he diagnosed complex partial seizures. We tried all types of medicine: Tegretol, Dilantin, Neurontin, and Gabitril. Currently I am on Lamictal and Keppra, which are working right now.

People say that epilepsy keeps life from being the same, which is partly true, but I went for almost two years having the seizures without knowing what they were. I knew that something was different, but I figured that everyone was going through this and that it was normal. I didn't feel that it interfered with my life that much. We informed my coaches about these episodes, but I played football and threw shot put and discus while in middle school.

I have played football since 6th grade. I played offensive tackle during high school, until this year, when the coaches moved me to guard and I became the starting left guard. Our team went to the 6A state playoff game this year. Unfortunately we lost, but we lost to a better team. Few people thought we would get that far, since we had only two returning starters. I was selected as one of the first-team guards by the coaches in our league.

I have also thrown shot put and discus for my school for five years. Last year I went to Regionals in discus even after missing half the season due to an injury. I might try to throw discus in college.

I also enjoy doing things with my friends and family. Sometimes our family goes out to a friend's farm and we shoot rifles for an afternoon. During the summer, some of my friends and I go out and play paintball. I also go to movies and parties with classmates. I don't have to do anything different than what people without epilepsy do.

Some other activities I am involved in are bicycling, water skiing, wake boarding, and snow skiing. I worked as my church's sound technician for three years. It hasn't always been easy. I have had to deal with some major difficulties. One of the hardest things has been not being able to drive. It has been awkward for me to always have to rely on someone else to get wherever I need to go, and it's no fun when most of the other kids are talking about what kind of car they have.

I have also dealt with being made fun of after having a seizure, when the other people didn't know what happened. Then I would just try to explain it to them. But most of the people I know don't even know that I have epilepsy. I prefer that I don't get treated differently because of my epilepsy. I only tell people about it if they see a seizure and want to know what happened.

Most people know what seizures are, but they think the only kind is a grand mal seizure. When I tell people about the other types of seizures, they say they didn't know there were so many other kinds. We people with epilepsy just need to inform them.

As for me, I'm looking forward to college next year and the opportunities it will provide. If someone wants to discuss my type of seizures or how I cope, feel free to email me at allenr2003@hotmail.com.

Allen

Kansas