Karen Loomis lives in Camden, Arizona, with her daughter, Sarah, who is 10. Sarah suffered a concussion when she was 17 months old and was diagnosed with absence seizures at age 5. Those seizures disappeared, but about two years later she was diagnosed with mixed complex partial seizures, which persist. This is Karen’s story:

This is a tough situation. I was a single mom for four and a half years. Sarah’s biological father does not have contact with her and never has. This was his choice. Sarah has a stepdad, a 4-year old half sister, and an 11-year old stepsister.

My husband expects Sarah to act like his daughter. Due to Sarah’s chronic illness, sometimes she has emotional instability. He does not understand. When she is confused or unable to complete something, he doesn’t understand. He just gets frustrated and yells at her. Of course, she doesn’t understand this. She gets her feelings hurt very easily.

I know that a lot of his thoughts on this subject are influenced by his mother. She made a comment to me about three or four years ago that I just needed to get her off some of that medication. Don’t I wish that I could! My dear mother-in-law. This makes for a very difficult situation. At some point I will have to confront this issue.

My mother-in-law has another granddaughter with a disability. She had a tumor on her spine and in removing it there was damage and now she is in a wheelchair. She is 8 and has never walked and probably never will. This is a sad situation. Because they cannot “see” Sarah’s problem, they think that it doesn’t exist. I guess it doesn’t matter that a doctor prescribes the medication. Or that she has had EEGs that show the seizure activity.

I guess that you can tell that I am bitter. I won’t deny that.

If it wasn’t for my mom and dad, I think that I would go crazy in dealing with this. My husband is going to have to acknowledge this situation and we may end up in counseling of some kind. I love my husband very much, but I am all my daughter has to take care of her. She is an innocent child that deserves to have a family that loves and accepts her just as she is.