Epilepsy

Hard to believe that another week has slipped by. I am looking forward to the weekend and plan to spend some time in my craft room. I have been looking through all the different amazing challenges that are out there... now to decide which ones I will tackle.

Do you have a loved one or friend who suffers from epilepsy? I do, my husband has epilepsy and he has had it since he was little.. They were somewhat controlled for many years until about 12 years ago where they started getting more frequent and the petite mals turned to partial and gran mals. He was laid off work and the seizures has affected his congitive abilities which along with his seizures, he can no longer work.

From that moment on, I knew that my role was changing to be his caregiver. I was trying to check in with him while I worked but had to either go home or stay home when he was having seizures. I luckily had a great and understanding boss and was able to work from home.

He was starting to have more gran mals and he would end up in the hosptial several times a year. This was stressful for both of us for I could not give him the attention that he really needed.  About 3 years ago, I was laid off and it actually was the best thing for both of us.... for now I am his caregiver. Even though he will get a cluster of seizures every one to three weeks, they are all partials for I am there to help him and so far, he no longer gets the gran mals.

He see's an epileptic specialist and he has tried everything in the books (literally). He even had a VNS (vagular nerve stimulator) implant and while it helps most people, it did pretty much nothing for him. He was tested to see if he was a candidate for brain surgery but again, they could not identify the precise spot where they occur which is required for this type of surgery. He has tried all the different medicines on the market and while some seem to help 'slightly', none have been able to stop the seizures. Now he is on a trial medicine program and we were so hopeful that it would see signicant improvements but yet again, there is not much change. We even took him up to the Seattle Epileptic Clinic for a second opinion but in the end, the diagnosis was the same. This gave us even more confidence in the specialist that he has.

So what now..... I try to make adjustments as he runs into potentially dangerous situations. Like a shower bench and handheld shower in the tub, he wears a helmet now since he has had a few head injuries while falling during a seizure and others. Even though I really should be working due to financial constriants, I cannot and I look to God for strength and encouragement for He will provide. Here are a few of the scriptures that can help....

John 14:27   Peace I leave to you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.

Mark 9:23  Jesus said to him, :If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes."

I John 5 14:15  Now this is the confidence that we have in Him, that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, whatever we ask, we know that we have the peitions that we have asked of Him.

There are many more that I will share later...

If you are unfamiliar with epilespy, I encourage you to visit these sites. Many people do not understand that there are over 3 million people who suffer from epilepsy and the number is growing by about 200,000 each year.
http://www.epilepsyfoundation.org/
http://www.epilepsy.com/
http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/epilepsy/DS00342

Well that is all for today, I would love to hear your comments, words of encouragement, your stories and struggles with epilespy.

God Bless
Karen