Profile Post

The Internet is a great tool to do just about anything. For example, you can look up a disease and research its history, causes, symptoms, and treatment. This was the case for me, unfortunately, when I studied up about epilepsy which I was diagnosed with at 8 years old.

I was in 3rd grade at the time and remember standing up in class to participate in some activity we were doing at the time. I stood up and waited for my teacher's instructions when suddenly I see the whole classroom laughing at me. I didn't know why there were all giggling so I just laughed it off. Later on in the day, I was walking to my desk when again my classmates were chuckling for what I figured to be no apparent reason. It continued throughout the day and eventually throughout the week. I became increasingly concerned each time this occurred when finally my parents were notified of what was going on. Apparently, I had been staring off into space and then acting as if nothing had happened. My teachers and classmates all thought it was some sort of joke I was pulling except for the fact that I actually didn't recall ever doing the so called "staring off." My friends in class described it as me "freezing". At first my parents thought I was just beating an old joke into the ground until I told them that I actually didn't know what was going on. I didn't remember ever "freezing".

Soon I was taken to the doctor where they ran some tests and concluded that I had epilepsy. Apparently, I had being experiencing an epileptic seizure. The one I had been going through are called absence seizures. They are brief seconds of total loss of awareness that occurs suddenly without any warning and ends suddenly. Although the person may appear to be awake, he or she cannot respond to anything or anyone. When the seizure stops, the person may resume normal activity without knowing that anything happened. This is exactly what was happening to me. I was prescribed a couple different types of medicine to take for a few months. Eventually, the seizures stopped altogether and I went about my normal life.

Strangely enough, I wasn't aware of the disease I had at the time, let alone what is was called and how it worked. My parents never told me and it wasn't until a few years ago when I became aware of the disease. I guess they never told me due to the fact that I was just a kid and probably wouldn't really understand what was going on. I don't blame them. However, after doing research and reading up on the disease that I had (or still have since there is no cure yet), I consider this a turning point because I was lucky enough that the medicine and treatment reacted the way it did and has prevented anymore seizures from occurring ever since. I haven't relapsed since. Many people are unfortunate and have to live their lives suffering through these seizures causing them to change their way of life. I'm happy that I can live a normal life and pursue goals that many others with epilepsy aren't able to do. I'm happy that I can write this blog post without the fear of a seizure striking at random.