Why I Never Gave Up On My Epilepsy Fight & You Shouldn't Either

Living with epilepsy is never easy. There are days when I feel like there’s no way I can accomplish anything because of my seizures. It’s the feeling of almost giving up on my fight against my epilepsy. However, I know that it’s not in my blood to give up and quit. I was taught to use my strength and fight back. Although there are days when I feel alone, I quickly realized that I had family, friends, and a community helping me in my battle against my epilepsy. Strength, faith and love is what keeps me going.

It was a typical school day, having fun with friends and learning some valuable lessons from teachers. Late in the day, I experienced something not many people get to. I walked out of my classroom into the hallway, and in a matter of minutes my life changed forever. The next thing I remember is waking up in the ambulance with my teacher and the EMT. My family and friends were at the hospital waiting for me to see what exactly happened that day. My first experience with epilepsy hit me hard and shook me up. What my epilepsy didn’t know was that I’d fight back harder.

After my first seizure I knew that I needed to fight back harder and not let it beat me. Through past experiences and lessons taught by my parents, I knew I had the strength to overcome this challenge. Epilepsy tested me early throwing me to ground numerous times. This time around though I had friends by my side and knew I was not alone. My first punch back at my epilepsy was figuring out my aura. I may have been a little kid, but I was a smart one who wanted to get a head start on my epilepsy, literally. From this point on I always knew when my grandmals were coming. Nice try epilepsy!

Of course, medications don’t totally cure seizures, but they turned my grandmal seizures into partial ones. With help from my doctors, it was like I cut my epilepsy in half. While I thought I limited my epilepsy, it came back more often. While not as bad, it occurs daily. At first, I wasn’t happy, but now I kind of like it. It may limit me on some levels, but it gives me the opportunity to come up with new ways to kick its butt. My epilepsy had no idea I would use my experiences to help others. I want to thank my epilepsy for giving me that opportunity 😉

Please realize that it’s not in your blood to give up in your fight. You’re never alone, and you have all the strength you need to beat epilepsy. Go beat your epilepsy now!