What is your inspiration?

[PhylisFeinerJohnson]

“I want people with epilepsy to know that there are ways in which they can play a role in their own recovery. It’s all in how they approach what is happening and how they can use that as a catalyst for their own growth. If there’s one thing that I’ve learned, it’s that people are willing to embrace you if you share your story.” -- Danny Glover

[Simba7805]

My inspiration is my little brother Garrett who is diabetic we both have disorders and he is only nine and is a tank he doesn't let anything get him down and he lives life. i have struggled with my epilepsy getting worse and all that but when i get to the point where it seems like there is no hope for me i just look at garrett and see that he keeps going through life with a giant smile on his face.

[PhylisFeinerJohnson]

Simba,

Our inspirations are somewhat similar. I had an only cousin who was the closet thing to a brother for me. He had Juvenile Diabetes which was mis-diagnosed until he was 13.

He grew up to be such a brilliant, brave, beautiful man...and continued to be so as each of his organs failed. Still he continued on his research trips to Europe (he was publisher of Art & Antiques magazine), finding dialysis centers before hand in every city he was to visit.

He made it to 59 and died after they removed his leg which resulted in 3 heart atttacks and then life support. Even worse, it was a wrongful death caused by a health aide's mistake. (She left a heating pad on his leg -- forgetting he had neuropathy and couldn't feel anything and by the time she returned, his leg was burned to the bone.)

But even in the hypobaric chamber, when he knew he as going to lose his second leg, he joked and we gossiped.

That was the last time I saw him, until I gave the eulogy at his funeral.

[Rae1889]

Hmm... Inspiration to keep going... Well it may seem weird, but my !@$$#^^ of a neurologist is my current reason to keep going and thriving.

I want to be a better neurologist than him. I want to have patient compassion and a relationship, and I have the personal experiance to do better. I want to be renowned for my study and to (this is where jerk me steps in) laugh in his face that I have become better than the man trying to control my life.

[draggrif]

I mostly try to keep faith. I know that everything that happens to a person happens for a reason and that we have choices to make about whether we will use these opportunities to grow or despair. My mother once told me a long time ago that god will never give you more than you're able to handle. I try to keep these things in mind and see if there's something I can learn from each situation. (of course, there are also times when all this feels like bull and I want to walk around kicking things and screaming, but I think everybody gets that once in a while. Self pity is hard to conquor.)

[carlos.fonke]

Contempt is one. For those who don't and can't know what it's like but presume to know how you should live your life.

[C0urt]

The person whom this foot belongs to. Finished a Ironman length triathlon in Hawaii, and set a record, including the times he had to stop and drain the sweat from his foot. Was my computer background for a long time.

I won my first alleycat race after I developed epilepsy, and those require decent memory. have also finished several centuries. But knowing someone could do it with one foot kinda gave me no excuse. Even more so since before I developed epilepsy, I used to ride my bike across the Florida panhandle on the weekends (102 miles) because I needed a break from Orlando where I was working as a lifeguard, which meant every day in the water swimming.