Finding My Passion Despite a Challenging Journey

I experienced temporal lobe focal seizures but was told I was suffering from uncontrolled anxiety. After many years of misdiagnosis, I was formally diagnosed with epilepsy when I was 26. I was crushed hearing my diagnosis. I was bedridden for an entire year while trying to navigate what medications worked for me, amongst other obstacles.

The years following my epilepsy diagnosis consisted of finding the right medication and struggling with my mental and physical health. I had hospital trips and terrible side effects from the medications. As a result, I had to leave work to focus on building myself back up. I struggled mentally with whether I would ever be in control or if I would ever feel a sense of normalcy again.

I am now 29 years old. After all the ups and downs of the last three years, I am proud to say that with the support of my family and medical team, I have finally found a medication that works for me, and I have been seizure-free for over one year! With epilepsy, there is a constant stigma behind our diagnosis, and people think we are making it up. Even being seizure-free, there are still the anxieties I feel that are seldom talked about. For example, getting a migraine and feeling increasingly anxious because of the fear of a breakthrough seizure.

For a time, I lost hope and became uninspired. I have found love and passion again in nature and photography. It is truly therapy for me. I have begun my photography business and am pursuing what I love. I am beginning to feel like I am in a healthy routine again. I established a career as a Certified Medical Assistant to help others with similar diagnoses.

Today, I no longer live in fear of my diagnosis. If it hadn’t been for the support system of my family and significant other, my medical team, and the Epilepsy Foundation, I’m not sure where I would be. I fight every day to be a better me and remember that on the bad days, good things will come.

The battle with epilepsy and seizures can be challenging, but it’s worth fighting even when it seems like there’s no hope. I may have epilepsy, but it will not control my life.