Cluster Seizures

The day our son had his first convulsive seizure really hit us hard. I had never been so scared before in my life. You may see seizures on tv or in the movies but when you see them in person it is so much more scary. When it is happening with your child it makes the reality so much scarier than any horror film could even be. We had a problem with friends and family not wanting to spend time with him when we were not around before the first convulsive seizure. I am dreading having to tell anyone that … Continue reading →

Our First Convulsive Seizure

Our son has been taking his medication for his seizures for a few months now and not much about our lives has really changed other than the medication having to be given every day. This was true until one night when he started looking a dazed and confused and then he fell. I got so scared when this happened, where is my first aid card? Why did I not pay more attention? Why was this happening now, he never had this happen before the medication? There were so many things running through my head that I could not think straight. … Continue reading →

Our Son Has Epilepsy So What

SO our son is three and on daily medication to control seizures, but he is alive and otherwise healthy. We were adjusting to the new normal life that we were going to have. WE did not know if or when he would outgrow this disorder but we could make it through. The response we got in the beginning from people we told was rather surprising. When people found out that he had seizures we stopped getting calls for play dates, sleepovers and outings. I do not know if people were scared of him having a seizure or what they may … Continue reading →

Telling People About Epilepsy Diagnosis

What was asked of us when we told her surprised me. She asked if we wanted to return him instead of adopting him!!! I am still shocked to this day that I as asked. What kind of parents would we be if we returned him to foster care? Would a biological mother turn her child over to CPS if they got the same diagnosis? We fell in love with our kids even before we met them I cannot even imagine giving him back. After we notified CPS we had to tell our family, it would have been a little easier … Continue reading →

Our Son Has Epilepsy

We just had our first sleep deprived EEG and we are headed to the pediatric neurologist. I already had a bad feeling in my stomach after seeing all the spikes on the EEG machine. The doctor walks in the room and he had some printouts in his hand. I remember this feeling very well because this was the moment before our son had epilepsy. The doctor went through all these technical terms explaining that our son was having abnormal seizure brain waves showing as spikes on the EEG. That all four areas of the brain were affected and they were … Continue reading →

Our First EEG

So we have had our 3 year old son up all night, actually he did get to sleep two hours, and we are headed to have our son tested for epilepsy. This is a whole new area for us, we have only been parents for a few months and now we are having one of the kids test for epilepsy. It is very scary for us to walk into having my oldest son tested for epilepsy. I honestly did not know what the testing would be like and for me it was scary I cannot even imagine it from the … Continue reading →

Does My Son Have Epilepsy?

My oldest son came to be ours when he was three years old, he had been in foster care for a year before him and his brother joined our family. When he came home we knew there would be an adjustment time for him especially because he is the oldest. He barely knew us and we barely knew him, yet here we are a brand new family. We noticed that he would start staring off and we thought it was just him being a normal toddler, spacing out and ignoring his parents. We never realized that this zoning out could … Continue reading →

More Types of Seizures

So far you have read about petit mal seizures also known as absence seizures and grand mal seizures also known as generalized clonic tonic seizures. These are both types of generalized seizures. Generalized seizures are seizures that affect both halves of the brain. With my son we saw on his EEG that he was having spikes in the brain waves in all four areas of his brain. There are sub-types of generalized seizures. They include: Myoclonic seizures, these include spasms of most often occur on both sides of the body. There is no loss of consciousness and the person may … Continue reading →

Study Finds Genetic Links to Severe Form of Cystic Fibrosis

Researchers discovered the gene that causes cystic fibrosis quite some time ago. A new collaborative study reveals the specific regions on some genes that influence how severe a case of cystic fibrosis a child will have. This could lead to customization of treatments in the future for kids who have cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a disease that causes a person to produce thick, sticky, mucus that can build up in the person’s lungs and digestive tract. This is the most common chronic lung disease in children and young adults. Kids with cystic fibrosis can have difficulty breathing, due to … Continue reading →

Grand Mal Seizures

Some of the children that have absence seizures will also have generalized clonic tonic seizure. These seizures are also called Grand Mal Seizures; these are the seizures that people normally think of when they think of epilepsy. These seizures include the arms and legs of the person getting stiff and then the spasms of the arms, legs and face begins. The person will fall on the floor, they may lose control of bladder or bowels, they may begin vomiting. These seizures are scary when they happen, in the olden days they used to think that a person having a grand … Continue reading →