what is NEAM?
NATIONAL EPILEPSY AWARENESS MONTH.
as most of you know, i write another blog about my journey through life with epilepsy. throughout the month of november i will be sharing a great deal of information about epilepsy, resources, stories, research, and various organizations.
therefore, i would like to take this opportunity to invite you to read, share, and comment on black out: my epileptic journey.
if you have epilepsy, know some with epilepsy, or are just seeking information, [black out] is a great place to start.
xoxo,
ks
Showing posts with label epilepsy. Show all posts
Showing posts with label epilepsy. Show all posts
Wednesday, November 6, 2013
Sunday, March 3, 2013
and so it happened....
it had been almost 3 years. 3 years. until last sunday, when that streak came to a screeching halt.
i had a seizure. my first one in almost 3 years.
in the world of epilepsy, that is pretty amazing.
in the world of kendra, that is heartbreaking.
having a seizure is extremely debilitating to me. in that i lose consciousness and thus wake up in this extreme state of vulnerability. then there are the after effects. since i had a seizure, legally, i am not supposed to drive for at least 6 months. at the blink of an eye my whole world is changed. i now have to rely on others to get me where i need to be. my independence to go and do things at my leisure is completely gone.
each seizure affects me differently. this one seemed to take me longer to recover from. it took almost a week for me to feel like myself again. the seizure i had 3 years ago instilled this fear of driving. however, this time i am annoyed that i can't drive. hell, if i could, i would get behind the wheel tomorrow. it boggles my mind how differently i feel each time. this time i felt like i should have seen it coming. the signs were all there: stress, lack of quality sleep/sleep deprivation, and alcohol consumption. it frustrates me that after living with this for over 13 years, it still tricks me and sneaks up on me. because as i said, each one is different. sure, some of the signs are the same, but it doesn't always manifest in the same way.
as i reviewed the past month in my mind to determine what i could have changed, i realized there was little use in that. i can only move forward and continue to live healthy from this point on. beating myself up over "what i should have/could have done" doesn't help. in fact, it probably just makes things worse.
i do know that i need to always remain active in my seizure prevention lifestyle. so whatever i am doing today, i should do 3 weeks from now, 3 months from now and 3 years from now.
i do plenty of things right after i have a seizure to stay safe and healthy. however, as i become more confident, i stop those behaviors. if anything, i should just continue them...why not? there is no harm in it. some of the things i am doing now:
showering only when someone else is home.
not driving (however, i feel that some day i will drive again)
extra sleep
moderate to no alcohol consumption
monitoring my stress levels and making sure that i am as relaxed as i can be.
taking my phone when i walk the dogs (may seem silly, but if something were to happen, having a phone could be a necessary resource).
i certainly do not live in fear of a seizure. however, i want to be a safe as i can doing day-to-day activities. it seems just plain smart do a couple of extra little things to keep me safe and healthy. after having this seizure, that is my biggest "take away" from all of this. i want to do what i can to stay safe and healthy, and ultimately prevent having another seizure forever.
getting through this past week was tough. i felt awful and tired. however, having the amazing support of my family and friends made it so much easier to get through. having a seizure is such a traumatic event. i can't even begin to explain how it feels, emotionally and physically. all i can say is, friends and family, thank you for being so awesome, so supportive and so loving.
epilepsy doesn't slow me down. i slow epilepsy down.
xoxo,
ks
i had a seizure. my first one in almost 3 years.
in the world of epilepsy, that is pretty amazing.
in the world of kendra, that is heartbreaking.
having a seizure is extremely debilitating to me. in that i lose consciousness and thus wake up in this extreme state of vulnerability. then there are the after effects. since i had a seizure, legally, i am not supposed to drive for at least 6 months. at the blink of an eye my whole world is changed. i now have to rely on others to get me where i need to be. my independence to go and do things at my leisure is completely gone.
each seizure affects me differently. this one seemed to take me longer to recover from. it took almost a week for me to feel like myself again. the seizure i had 3 years ago instilled this fear of driving. however, this time i am annoyed that i can't drive. hell, if i could, i would get behind the wheel tomorrow. it boggles my mind how differently i feel each time. this time i felt like i should have seen it coming. the signs were all there: stress, lack of quality sleep/sleep deprivation, and alcohol consumption. it frustrates me that after living with this for over 13 years, it still tricks me and sneaks up on me. because as i said, each one is different. sure, some of the signs are the same, but it doesn't always manifest in the same way.
as i reviewed the past month in my mind to determine what i could have changed, i realized there was little use in that. i can only move forward and continue to live healthy from this point on. beating myself up over "what i should have/could have done" doesn't help. in fact, it probably just makes things worse.
i do know that i need to always remain active in my seizure prevention lifestyle. so whatever i am doing today, i should do 3 weeks from now, 3 months from now and 3 years from now.
i do plenty of things right after i have a seizure to stay safe and healthy. however, as i become more confident, i stop those behaviors. if anything, i should just continue them...why not? there is no harm in it. some of the things i am doing now:
showering only when someone else is home.
not driving (however, i feel that some day i will drive again)
extra sleep
moderate to no alcohol consumption
monitoring my stress levels and making sure that i am as relaxed as i can be.
taking my phone when i walk the dogs (may seem silly, but if something were to happen, having a phone could be a necessary resource).
i certainly do not live in fear of a seizure. however, i want to be a safe as i can doing day-to-day activities. it seems just plain smart do a couple of extra little things to keep me safe and healthy. after having this seizure, that is my biggest "take away" from all of this. i want to do what i can to stay safe and healthy, and ultimately prevent having another seizure forever.
getting through this past week was tough. i felt awful and tired. however, having the amazing support of my family and friends made it so much easier to get through. having a seizure is such a traumatic event. i can't even begin to explain how it feels, emotionally and physically. all i can say is, friends and family, thank you for being so awesome, so supportive and so loving.
epilepsy doesn't slow me down. i slow epilepsy down.
xoxo,
ks
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
i never told you guys....
why i love statistics.
in my first post this month about my epilepsy, i mentioned that when i first started having seizures i was in a statistics class. which i hated. but now my scholarly and nerdy self has come to love it.
why?
part of me doesn't really know.
but part of me (this is going to get wayyyyyy deep) relates back to those days of my hatred of stats. and where i am now. i was two very different people. seizures and statistics have changed my life. well, the former more than the latter. but between my first seizure and my most recent (which has been 10 years), i have taken a total of FOUR, yes four collegiate statistics classes (one at the graduate level). sure i am bragging just a little bit. but you see, each time i took this class (no, it wasn't because i failed it the previous time)....i started to love it. and i couldn't believe it. i love statistics. and i only know the smallest fraction there is to know about the whole world of stats.
and the more i do research for my graduate program...guess what? the more statistics i find. and the more i love to see them there.
ok. this nerdiness has gone on way too long.
the point is: seizures and epilepsy have changed my life. they have probably saved my life. in some weird way. which i'll detail on in another blog, on another day.
epilepsy led me down my life path...which led me through four stats classes.
and now i have another skill and possibly career option (research??) that i was never even considering.
thank you stats, i love you.
in my first post this month about my epilepsy, i mentioned that when i first started having seizures i was in a statistics class. which i hated. but now my scholarly and nerdy self has come to love it.
why?
part of me doesn't really know.
but part of me (this is going to get wayyyyyy deep) relates back to those days of my hatred of stats. and where i am now. i was two very different people. seizures and statistics have changed my life. well, the former more than the latter. but between my first seizure and my most recent (which has been 10 years), i have taken a total of FOUR, yes four collegiate statistics classes (one at the graduate level). sure i am bragging just a little bit. but you see, each time i took this class (no, it wasn't because i failed it the previous time)....i started to love it. and i couldn't believe it. i love statistics. and i only know the smallest fraction there is to know about the whole world of stats.
and the more i do research for my graduate program...guess what? the more statistics i find. and the more i love to see them there.
ok. this nerdiness has gone on way too long.
the point is: seizures and epilepsy have changed my life. they have probably saved my life. in some weird way. which i'll detail on in another blog, on another day.
epilepsy led me down my life path...which led me through four stats classes.
and now i have another skill and possibly career option (research??) that i was never even considering.
thank you stats, i love you.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
fast facts
i promise i won't bog down my blog with epilepsy posts. but it's important to me because it affects me. and it's like a light blub went off when i found out it was epilepsy awareness month. the basic goal of the month to make people aware of what epilepsy is and how to take care of someone when they have a seizure. true and simple awareness.
so...more knowledge for you :o)
Epilepsy Fast Facts
- Epilepsy is a chronic neurological condition characterized by recurrent seizures.
- There are many types of seizures and their symptoms can vary from a momentary disruption of the senses, to short periods of unconsciousness or staring spells, to convulsions.
- Epilepsy can be caused by many different conditions that affect a person’s brain. Often no definite cause can be found. Epilepsy cannot be transmitted from person to person.
- Epilepsy affects about 2.0 million Americans.
- About 10% of people will experience a seizure sometime during their lifetime and about 3% will have had a diagnosis of epilepsy by age 80.
- In 2010, nearly 140,000 new cases of epilepsy will be diagnosed in the United States.
- Epilepsy results in an estimated annual cost of $15.5 billion in medical costs and lost or reduced earnings and production.
if you don't know....now you know. brush up on your Seizure First Aid.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
how it all began...
it all began in statistics. at appalachian state university. i hated this class. more than anything. by the end of this story, i just may understand why i now love statistics.
i was a freshman in college. enjoying my second semester in boone, nc. away from home. making new friends. what college co-ed could complain?!
back to stats. the night before i had been out with some of my new friends. we'd been drinking. under-age. (gasp!) i know, can you believe i'd ever do such a thing? we'd stayed up wayyyyy too late. so late that i overslept. for stupid stats class. but somehow in my being late for class i managed to rummage through my roommate, jenna's, closet for the most perfect outfit to wear. i ran alllllll the way across campus. barely arriving to class on time was the last thing i remembered.
next thing i knew, i was being wheeled out of the math building on a stretcher. it was the scariest feeling in the world. i felt like i was in the twilight zone. i had no idea why paramedics and fire fighters surrounded me. at that point in time the last thing i remember was being out the night before. it just so happens that the apartments we had been at..were a mere 2 blocks from the math building. it was early morning, so i started thinking,"did i wander over here drunk?" "did i pass out over here?" "how the hell did i get here?"
so i did what any normal underage girl would do, i asked the paramedic if i was going to get in trouble for drinking. his response? laughter. of course i wasn't going to get in trouble! i wasn't drunk. but at this point, i had no idea what was going on. and neither did the paramedics.
it took me hours to start piecing my day back together. i finally remembered going home the night before. i didn't remember going to stats class though. you know what helped put it all together? me wearing jenna's purple top. if i had not done that, i don't think i would have been able to piece everything together the way that i did. i remember sitting at the hospital thinking, "i know i didn't wear this out last night...but how did i get into this outfit?" so, thank you jenna :o)
at the hospital they ran sooo many tests. they couldn't figure out what had happened to me. low blood sugar? a stroke? there were a couple of other weird suggestions in there, but i can't remember them now. after numerous tests they finally determined what it was: a seizure.
a what?!
november is epilepsy awareness month. so i'm sharing my story. and spreading the awareness :o)
i was a freshman in college. enjoying my second semester in boone, nc. away from home. making new friends. what college co-ed could complain?!
back to stats. the night before i had been out with some of my new friends. we'd been drinking. under-age. (gasp!) i know, can you believe i'd ever do such a thing? we'd stayed up wayyyyy too late. so late that i overslept. for stupid stats class. but somehow in my being late for class i managed to rummage through my roommate, jenna's, closet for the most perfect outfit to wear. i ran alllllll the way across campus. barely arriving to class on time was the last thing i remembered.
next thing i knew, i was being wheeled out of the math building on a stretcher. it was the scariest feeling in the world. i felt like i was in the twilight zone. i had no idea why paramedics and fire fighters surrounded me. at that point in time the last thing i remember was being out the night before. it just so happens that the apartments we had been at..were a mere 2 blocks from the math building. it was early morning, so i started thinking,"did i wander over here drunk?" "did i pass out over here?" "how the hell did i get here?"
so i did what any normal underage girl would do, i asked the paramedic if i was going to get in trouble for drinking. his response? laughter. of course i wasn't going to get in trouble! i wasn't drunk. but at this point, i had no idea what was going on. and neither did the paramedics.
it took me hours to start piecing my day back together. i finally remembered going home the night before. i didn't remember going to stats class though. you know what helped put it all together? me wearing jenna's purple top. if i had not done that, i don't think i would have been able to piece everything together the way that i did. i remember sitting at the hospital thinking, "i know i didn't wear this out last night...but how did i get into this outfit?" so, thank you jenna :o)
at the hospital they ran sooo many tests. they couldn't figure out what had happened to me. low blood sugar? a stroke? there were a couple of other weird suggestions in there, but i can't remember them now. after numerous tests they finally determined what it was: a seizure.
a what?!
november is epilepsy awareness month. so i'm sharing my story. and spreading the awareness :o)
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