Introducing Myself

[Laura In Arizona]

Hello! My name is Laura. I am a 55 year old retired software engineer living in southeastern Arizona. We moved here from San Jose (Silicon Valley) California in 2003.

Although it looks like I've had epilepsy since at least as far back as the second grade, I was not diagnosed until 2006. From April 2003 until my diagnosis in 2006 I was experiencing ever more frequent and intense complex partial seizures. My first and only EEG actually captured the epilepsy.

When I was 17 I had a gran mal seizure that was witnessed by my optometrist. He tried to get my mother to take me to the doctor about it but she didn't. Prior to that I have a clear memory of a "black out" in the second grade that was brought on by hunger, dehydration and heat (the three triggers that brought on my gran mal when I was 17).

In hindsight I now understand many strange experiences I have had in my life were epileptic seizures.

[Chaz1]

A warm welcome to CWE.

My Son of 26 has E.

Are your seizures under control these days? Are you taking meds?

Interesting that you mention "In hindsight I now understand many strange experiences" because many strange phenomenon’s may well be explained by seizures and certainly not all negative.

We glad to have you on board at CWE. Ton of good reading on CWE and hopefully you can share your experiences as we sure do learn for each other here.

Chaz

[jyearta]

Hi Laura, Please make yourself at home here.

I'm 60 years old, I've seizures all my life, and like your mother my mother would not take me to a dr. As a child I didn't have to words for what I was experiencing.
I was diag. ONLY 2 or so weeks after I got married. At that time I had a gran mal in my sleep. It scared my husband, he got me to a dr. the next day. He then had a LONGGG talk with my mother, she never excepted me.

It funny how things (I'll say) go, when my mother was 66 years old, she had a gand mal seiz. --it turn out she had a brain tumor. I was in her hospt. room when the dr. came in and told her she had epilepsy.
We both just set there..then my mother told me she was sorry for how she treated me. That was 16 years ago.

[Meetz1064]

CWE, Laura.

My parents live in AZ, oddly enough. They did a great job of getting care for me when I was quite young, and taking care of the problem. I'm sorry you didn't have the same experience.

Are you on meds now? I'm on a nice cocktail of them....

[rich956]

Greetings
i to am 55 and from Cali.
Welcome to the forums

[Krista2882]

I've seizures all my life, and like your mother my mother would not take me to a dr.

Wow, me too. Except I started having seizures when I was about 11. I try not to think about the fact that my parents wouldn't take me to the doctor until I was about 16. I try to think that they just didn't understand what it was and I know that they definitely didn't suspect Epilepsy, but still, they should have brought me to the doctor. It does make me a bit upset sometimes when I think about it almost 20 years later. They don't know that, though.

[RachelinAZ]

Hi Laura! Welcome, I am new too.
I am "up and over" in Mesa, AZ. We like to travel around the state. I think I've been everywhere except N.W. area. One of the days we'll go

I too, had the "in hindsite" thinking I probably had some type of seizures before the Grand-daddy of them all in '91. However they was never any reason (at the time) for me to think it was a seizure. I had also had mono and strep throat, which is what I assumed at least one "possible episoide" to be (I fell out of my desk at school, like fell asleep. But I never was actually asleep, I remember exactly where the teacher left off in the book he was reading).

I hope you find information, help and friends here <3

[Nakamova]

Hi Laura, just wanted to add my welcome to the others!

Best,
Nakamova

[DadofTwins]

Hi Laura,
Welcome. I am a newbie and have found much knowledge and support from the members of this site. I hope you will too.

Tom