My name is Christine, and I am 22 years old. I experienced my first seizure last May (2005). I was in such disbelief. All my friends were in disbelief, and my boyfriend wanted to deny that it was even a seizure, he kept telling himself that I just passed out at work.

I used to work at a Second Cup, where we had a drive-thru. I was standing serving customers at the window and it just hit me. So surreal!!

I was told that it was probably just a one-time thing. A lot of people experience one seizure in their lifetime. I was hoping to be one of those people.

2 months later I had my second seizure. At work again to make things more interesting of course...it happened a week before my scheduled EEG. The results of that test showed abnormal electrical discharge, so there was no doubt that I had epilepsy, prone to seizures.

I have been on Lamictal steadily since September and it has changed me a lot. I am a student at UofA and had a group of friends, we would go out to the school pub after our last class and have a couple beers. It is such a routine for me to go chill out like this, I had been doing it for years, that it is hard for me to sit there when everyone else is having something to drink. It's an adjustment I have to make, one of many.

I was independent, I drove and could work.

I can't drive anymore, and still can't. I have had 4 seizures since then. My doctor was surprised because I had been stable for almost 6 months.

I read the story that Katherine Bullock from Peru, NY wrote and could sympathize quite a bit.

I cry so much, still after a year of knowing it is now part of who I am. I feel like I am treated differently.

I had a seizure at school in January, and the biggest thing I was concerned about was the fact that that's where it happened. I don't know why, but that's the first thing that came to my mind. At that point I realized that I better inform all of my professors that I did have Epilepsy and give them basic instructions were something to happen to me during their lecture.

My boyfriend witnessed a seizure I had when he and I were in Kingsway Garden Mall. That is when it TRULY hit him that this can happen to me.

It has been straining on some of my relationships, and I just feel like giving up so often.

I still don't understand why it had to happen to me, why does it happen to anyone really? There is no history of it in my family (except one of my many cousins), so how did it just 'appear'.

I work at it everyday to just tell myself that I am still okay. I am still the same person, my personality wasn't changed because of this, I just learn as much as I can as I go along. My circle of friends is the most supportive for me, and my parents are WONDERFUL people.

After that longwinded description of how my life just 'changed', I want to say to Katherine Bullock that she is okay. Wear her bracelet... I have one too, and ya some days I wish I could just hide it, not wear it, but I tell myself that it is important and it helps me. It helped me at school... someone looked at it, called an ambulance and they were able to better handle the situation.

I am happy to have found this site where I can learn more and express to others that share similar expriences, learn from one another.