There’s a day and a ribbon for everything. I know, it’s hard to keep up.
There’s a handful that we are passionate about in our home because they affect our family.
Purple Day is Epilepsy Awareness and it affects our family.
Our darling daughter was diagnosed with epilepsy in May last year. She originally suffered from childhood absent seizures and then after our accident and due to the trauma her brain experienced she started experiencing tonic clinic seizures.
What’s the difference?
Well, everyone’s epilepsy is quite different. Every time she had an absent seizure she was silent, non responsive, her eyes were always transfixed on a spot and tears streamed down her face. There was never any sound. They could last from 20 seconds to 20 minutes.
And then we experienced a tonic clinic seizure … in the middle of the biscuit aisle in Coles. It came with little warning. She went white and said she felt a bit funny. I thought she needed some food. Then she reached out for me and said ‘Mummy ….’
I caught her as her body dropped and tensed. When I saw her face I was shocked and scared for her. I knew all I could do was wait. Thankfully it was quite short. Less than a minute but it felt like forever.
The physical recovery is at least a day. Her body was beyond exhausted and needed to sleep and sleep and sleep.
Medication helps …. when the dose is finally correct and they’ve been able to overcome the horrendous side effects to their poor little bodies. The medication continues to increase until there is no evidence of seizure activity.
FACT: 1 in 200 children with epilepsy.
