Mothers with Epilepsy

I am not sure of who was more afraid. My children didn't quite understand why I shook so violently or the day my seizure caused me to crack a glass and cut open my hand. We can read a definition of what epilepsy is but to live with it, especially as a parent, cannot be defined in a book.

It should have been a happy time. I had been trying to have a baby for about a year, and finally I received the news. I was going to have a baby. As happy as I was, I was terrified. Unfortunately, my Doctor was not very informed about pregnant women with epilepsy. My neurologist was not very informed about prenatal care and epilepsy. The medications I was on were new, and little was known about the effects of them on a fetus.

I stopped all my medication. For 9 months, my seizures were out of control. My husband and I had made an  uniformed decision; we felt we had no where to turn to for information. We were lucky, my son was born perfectly healthy. However, my doctor did perform a c-section under general anesthesia. We told that it would be safer for the baby.

For the birth of my daughter, I had a new neurologist and a new obstetrician. Both doctors were well informed. I stayed on my medication, they had researched it for me and found it safe. We had found out that there could have been a lot of damage done to my son due to the lack of oxygen to him during my Grand Mal seizures. I also had a c-section again, but found out that the general anesthesia that I had been given the first time could have also caused problems for my baby. I could have went into status epileptics (uncontrolled, repeated seizures that occur one right after another.) Therefore, I had been given a spinal injection. I was awake for the birth of my daughter.
It was wonderful!

 I had to change neurologists again, and this time he nearly overdosed me on medication. For 20 days I had repeated Grand Mal seizures, until I was finally hospitalized. I was given a neurologist, who told us that I was nearly overdosed by my previous doctor. The medication that he had given me had begun to poison my system, I had become toxic.

My children are 7yrs old and 9yrs old now. They are both healthy. They have come to understand what epilepsy is and are no longer afraid of my seizures. They were uncontrolled for many years. They affected my life and the lives of my family.

Since then I have had good doctors. Until recently my seizures were still out of control but it was because  the medication were not working, not because of the inadequate care I was being given. Now at the age of 40, my seizures are finally under control. I am on new medication, and I see a doctor who deals only with women with epilepsy. She is aware of the changes in women's bodies that can bring on seizures and treats women with this in mind. Menstruation, pregnancy, and menopause can all affect the severity of seizures in women.

I now go to school and work. I am there for my children. I had always felt depressed and down, because I felt that my seizures interfered with my ability to be a mom. I know that this was not true. My children loved me and accepted my seizures as just a part of me. My husband worked hard to help me find the proper help, but always kept the household stable and made the children feel safe and secure even during the worst of  times.

I wrote this page so I could share some of my experiences. Not all seizures and treatment work the same. I am not a doctor. I just want other moms to know that there are groups that can help you deal with both the emotional and physical effects of epilepsy.

The following links are pages where you can get information:

                      http://www.epileptics.com
                 http://www.datasync.com/~josw/links.htm

To contact the author e-mail: [email protected]

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