Offended Epileptics...

[stilldancing_98]

Well I'm happy, You truly can not know joy if you have not known sorrow. And I have known both. And wether you have epilepsy, diabetes, cerebral palsy the answer is always love.

[Hand of Blood]

what annoys me is the condition being called a disease
and the fact that no1 will give u job

i think why u would find that word offensive is because that u have it and hate people talking about it! im the same everyone heres the word and they just look at ya!

[Crash]

Yeah i couldnt agree more with you about the disease part HOB,i mean its not like you can catch it sitting beside someone on the dam bus like you could get the common cold or flu.But hey what can you do but battle on!!!

[acpollard2010]

i agree it really ticks me off i hate to be labeled by anybody especially by somebody who is ignorant and knows nothing and thinks a brain abnormality they can catch and i have realized it's a disease sorry b/c its not going anywhere anytime soon.use to thank the same thing only person who dont run is my wife and she has been involved the least ammount of time.

[Ruth]

I am not offended by the terms "epileptic," epilepsy" , "fits or diseases. We do not have a disease or fits but a lot of people are ignornant about some parts of epilepsy.

Epileptic is an adjective, epilepsy is a noun. It is just grammar.

I have always gone by the phrase, "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me." That is the way I feel.

When I know someone that the word "epileptic" bothers, I do not use it. I do not want to hurt anyone's feelings.

[stilldancing_98]

That's why people, we have to spread the word in a positive way, that this is just the way it is. My son has kidney disease .They call it that because its so generic.Not because there are trying to be mean. There are so many varyiations of kidneys that they call it kidney disease until they break it down. It is just ignorance. Let there attitude be the last thing you think about. It should be your own health and family that you think about.

[Jake]

I find few terms that really bother me but I do try and educate people. If someone says your an Epileptic I'll just say "well I have Epilepsy" and hope they get my point.

However, I find the word "fit" merciless. It sounds suggestive (to me) as though you have control of what is happening when you don't. It sounds so uncompassionate.

It is only grammar and they're only words but sometimes words do hurt. After an accident my dad was sent to a hospital out of state for 7 months so I tried to get a job to help maintain two households and when Epilepsy was mentioned the interviewer said "we don't hire cripples." That was over 40 yrs ago and something i've never been able to forget.

Fortunately, some of these words are old school and will hopefully disapear with another generation.

[acpollard2010]

Jake I heard so stupid people but that takes the cake

[Hand of Blood]

yeah i catch when people round me say something like " hes gonna have throw a fit " they kinda look at me after and it really bugs me! i feel like saying nooooo hes gonna have a tantrum not a sezure! and how do u throw a fit anyway? lol grrrr

[RunningGirl85]

It doesn't bother me... Though it hasn't really been used with me too often. I hear "seizure disorder" way more frequently, and it is kind of annoying because people are afraid to use the word epilepsy. I do hate when people ask "do they know what caused your seizures?" And I say "epilepsy." Then they react like "oh my gosh!" And then I have to explain that it just means I have seizures more easily than other people...

Like many people have said, the term "fit" is a lot worse to me than a seizure/epilepsy. My aunt used it the other day when I was talking about going running and she says "but not alone right?" I said "who else am I going to go with?" Her response is: "but you have fits, you can't do that!" I got so angry.

[Ruth]

I find few terms that really bother me but I do try and educate people. If someone says your an Epileptic I'll just say "well I have Epilepsy" and hope they get my point.

However, I find the word "fit" merciless. It sounds suggestive (to me) as though you have control of what is happening when you don't. It sounds so uncompassionate.

It is only grammar and they're only words but sometimes words do hurt. After an accident my dad was sent to a hospital out of state for 7 months so I tried to get a job to help maintain two households and when Epilepsy was mentioned the interviewer said "we don't hire cripples." That was over 40 yrs ago and something i've never been able to forget.

Jake, I am sorry, you are right. The words "fit" and "we don't hire cripples" are merciless. Those two words do make me angry.

I have never been told those words, but they do hurt.

[C0urt]

feel like saying nooooo hes gonna have a tantrum not a sezure! and how do u throw a fit anyway? lol grrrr

you take it and you toss it, it is like playing yatzee



you rock it out the best you can

[stilldancing_98]

I was just part of a team of walking for epilepsy in Tacoma WA and our Tee shirts were The shake rattle and rollers! It was so great!We can spread the news that we have a sense of humour to.There is a time to be serious.

[Hand of Blood]

i actually hate the word sezure more! lol


we should be possitive but its so hard..... esp with the side effects every day mine are just so bad! no1 will help .... i actually thinking on going down on the tab abit myself!

[stilldancing_98]

My son is is my hero to.And that is that.

[petero]

definitely not as bad as people typing "its" instead of "it's"* or saying "asstriks" or "supposeably" etc. - but I'd personally place it in the same category of annoyance/ignorance. It's* just an outdated term.

[stilldancing_98]

I am really not offended by it myself unless I go into a hospital for my son having myoclonic seizures and the doctor I have does not know what kind they are and has to ask. Luckily I am pretty informed.He appologized and said "Im only an er doc." I was worried, earlier and went off. But I know that I am ignorant of things and he is just learning.He got things cleared up real fast and forgave him.

[Ruth]

Hi Dancing,

"Im only an er doc." An ER doctor is an intern and can lose his/her job because of ignorance. I always give my ER doctor's a top score in the hospital's survey. I want him/her to be able to keep their job.

I am very friendly to them and get a chance to educate them, without it sounding like they do not know something. There job is on the line with each patient that they see.

Until they get to be a resident doctor, still in the ER, they are still in the learning stage.

They know that they can ask me questions. I answer them with respect and my knowledge. They feel comfortable with me.

Did you know that even a nurse or an intern or resident doctor can be fired by an MD? Every moment, they are worried about being fired, if they get a bad survey.

That is true, one of my neurologist fired nurses's right in front of me. I really felt sorry for the nurse. That was years ago but it is still true.

[stilldancing_98]

Yep. I fee; greatly that he felt bad.I scolded him and told him where to look until i calmed down.He was a good guy,and he spoke with Alex's Dr. If it would have been any more serious, the story would ended up differently.

[Endless]

Actually, I don't think "I'm only an ER doc" is an excuse. They have a huge online doctors' data base to look up every disease, symptom, and drug known in the world. In the ER they also have ten+ built-in colleagues to consult with. If they don't understand what's going on, they will inside of 2 minutes. One in 100 people has epilepsy. A doctor not knowing the details of a disease that affects 1 in 100 of his patients? There isn't an excuse for that.

Although I know what you mean. When I was looking for a new family doctor almost half of those I met with didn't know the different types of seizures, or their symptoms. They thought that most of them were "grand mal" (their words, not mine) and any other types of seizures were extremely rare, and what's more, they couldn't name more than "grand mal" and "partial". I assume when they are so poorly educated on such a common subject then they probably are on other common medical problems and treatments, too. I kept looking. There were definitely better doctors out there and I see one of them now.