Chants:
"I was diagnosed with idiopathic epilepsy and I had my first seizure in Late August 2013 when I was 10 years old. I suffered from tonic clonic, absent and night time seizures. After I was diagnosed with epilepsy everything in my life changed, I was finally starting to gain my independence and it was all gone in a split second.
My first ever seizure was a tonic clonic in a shop, my family and I were shocked as we didn’t know where it came from. I thought it was very unlikely to get epilepsy from my family because it wasn’t hereditary. I began to drift away from my social life and isolated myself from my friends and family and locked myself away. After being diagnosed with epilepsy, I became really depressed and anxious which became a huge social issue for me. The first medication they prescribed for me was Keppra which wasn’t very effective, it made me aggressive, moody and and I gained weight. I didn’t recognise myself. Epilepsy wasn’t just ruining my social life it was ruining my school life as well as I was in Year 6 and wanted my independence like everyone else had but that didn’t happen. I had to wear a helmet to do PE and I felt like an outsider and wanted everything to end. I once had a tonic clonic seizure on my birthday in front of the whole school I was greatly embarrassed but after a while people came to terms with it easier than I did.
When I started secondary school, I was still restricted and isolated from many things like P.E. I had to have a teacher with me at all times ruining my time with my friends. My carer would take me there and my mum would collect me after school. Although, she did try to get me to become more active and do after school s but I wasn’t interested. Everyone was patronising me and I hated it. I’ve had several seizures at school, but the most memorable one was when I was with my friends but I started to blank out and then I fell down the stairs and had a tonic clonic seizure. (from what my friends told me). My friends called for help while the others put me in the recovery position. The teacher took me to the hospital where I met my mum. I’ve had a number of seizures over the past five year in all different places, school, home and on the street. Having epilepsy messed up my eyesight so I had to wear glasses for a short while but eventually I was confirmed as someone who had 20/20 vision which made me ecstatic. After a while, things got easier when they prescribed a new medication for me called Lamotrigine which worked amazingly for me. I lost weight and became less aggressive towards people.
The last time I was a victim of epilepsy I had three seizures in one day. I had one on the bus ride home, one in my bedroom at home and one in my dining room which chipped my front tooth but I fixed it. Ever since then I have been seizure free. My mum changed my diet, juicing and eating healthy. Although I do still suffer from depression and anxiety, I feel better than I have in forever. I have gained my independence and everyone has learned to accept me for who I am. I can’t change my life but I can change how I live it. I am happy to announce that I have been seizure free for ONE YEAR AND THREE MONTHS. Epilepsy didn’t make me weak it just made me stronger than I have been before💜"
