Nov is Epilepsy Awareness Month

November is Epilepsy Awareness Month.  The ribbon color for epilepsy is purple.  Epilepsy affects 3 million Americans and 65 million people worldwide. One third of people diagnosed with Epilepsy will be deemed intractable, meaning that they take multiple medications without success and there is no way for their seizures to be helped with medication.  It often forces a patient to take more and more medications for only a fraction of control. (At my worst time, I was on a maximum dosage of 5 medications.) Only a small margin of intractable epileptics will qualify for the current surgeries available, about 30%. I was one of the lucky ones.   Though epilepsy affects more people than  multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and Parkinson's combined it has least amount of funding for studies in the advancement of finding treatments and a cure.

Should you see someone around you have a seizure: Do not ever put anything in their mouth. Remove anything dangerous from their hand (like a fork or knife). Move tables or chairs to prevent them from hitting their head, if possible place something soft under their head.  Do not be alarmed if they are not responding to you immediately, during a seizure most will not.  Rarely is an ambulance needed, however if the seizure goes beyond 5 minutes; if the person has continual short seizures without coming conscious in between, or if the person bangs their head or physically injures their body.  It may take several minutes after a seizure for the person to become truly aware.  Staying nearby and talking to them to ensure they are conscious is good. 

For all those of you who have epilepsy or know someone with epilepsy, never give up!  I had intractable seizures for the first 39 years of my life. I met the right doctor and less than 5 months later I had my last seizure.  I have currently been seizure free for 4 and a half years.  I am down to low medication levels.  There's always hope!  I am seeing new technology, new treatments and surgeries come.  Don't be afraid.  Drop me a message if you need to talk. htondre@aol.com

This card is using an awesome stamp from the Stamping Chef. This woman is the fighter I want to be! I colored her up in purple for Epilepsy Awareness this month using gorgeous papers from Paper Temptress.