Conversation Between Elaine H and drarvindr

Hi There Stranger
Hope all is well with you? So sorry for not being in touch sooner, but I am in the biggest mess of my life, Mark walked out on me at the end of April, just like that, took all his clothes and went, I have still not got a job, obviously no car, don't know anyone round here, no spare money, have to sell my beloved house, nowhere to go, and I have truly contemplated suicide on more than one occasion since end of May!!?? I know, it's crazy to feel this way, but I'm lost, my seizures are really kicking in with the stress, I collapsed last week, I just feel so helpless and don't know where to start to get my life back on track, if I could win the lotto, I could pay the mortgage off, I cannot bear the thought of a FOR SALE sign here, how Mark can do this after 12 years I will never know! I am sorry to go on, I do hope that life is ok for you Drarvindr, and that you are in good health, do let me know as soon as you can?
Best Regards

Lainey
XX

Hi There Drarvindr
Just to say hello, hope you are well, and that you are doing as well as I am, last time I wrote, I had just started the new drug, I've been seizure free for a month now, and I feel great, it seems that the doctors have finally controlled it, Keppra, Trileptal and Zonegran.

I'm putting a thread on here asking for people to tell me about negative experiences in the workplace, my book is coming along nicely, I have five more chapters to type and then that is it, finally finished, after ten long years of writing it! I just hope I can get it published, I've done a couple of radio shows and a big newspaper article recently, so I'm still out there trying to raise awareness, my vocation in life I feel!

I hope to hear from you when you get the chance, and if you ever had any bad experiences regarding epilepsy and employment and are happy for me to mention it in my book, please let me know?

Very Best Regards

Lainey
xxxxxx

doing well.... seizures are gone .....for now. Otherwise ok. Job , love life ,family etc
catch u l8er

Just dropped by to say hi, and long time no hear, I hope all is well with you, and that you are ok and having a good healthy Summer? I have a job, I am just waiting to start, I will be getting school leavers training jobs, and am so looking forward to it!
Let me know how you are when you get the chance? Let me know how the seizures are doing, mine are off and on, I just started a new drug Zonisamide, along with Keppra and Trileptal, I think I will start rattling soon!
Hope all is well!

Lotsalove

Lainey
xxxx

Hi Drarvindr

Just a quick hello and hope that things are going well for you, I hope all your exams went well?

I'm having a bad time with everything but epilepsy at the moment, I'm trying to get a job, but as we are in the middle of possibly the worst economic recession I have ever known in this country, I just can't see any light at the end of my tunnel!

I shall try and keep smiling, and hope to hear how you are doing when you get the chance?

Best Regards

Elaine x

Dear Elaine ,
Just logged on after a loooooooooooong time and saw your msg. I ve been very busy with exams ( to get into an internal medicine program i have to be in the top 50 out of 143,000 doctors !). Anyway , i read ur post , and i agree that the older drugs have bad long time effects vide osteoporosis. If you want to see the effect on your bone , there is a test called a dual energy xray absorptiometry (DEXA) test and you can see how much (if any) damage has been done. Don't worry too much. In the past the drugs available for osteoporosis were only able to stop further destruction of bone (resorption). There is a new drug out on the market called strontium ranelate which can induce new bone formation as well as stop resorption. As a woman , you are anyway at a higher risk for osteoporosis. I personally am not an advocate for homone replacement therapy and feel that its carcinogenic potential is a major drawback. The important thing for you now is to go to an orthopaedic specialist and check yourself out. You should start taking calcium supplements and eat right , maybe sun yourself a bit to get some extra vitamin D.
I hope you feel better soon and wish you all the best .
Gotta hit the books now , will be back on CWE after my last exams ( sometime in Feb)
C u l8er,
Arvind

Hi Drarvindr

I hope all is well with you, and that your exams are going well, or I hope that they do go well if you've not started them yet, keep us all posted won't you, and let us know how it goes?

I've been trying to keep positive and upbeat just lately, January is depressing enough, without being unemployed, pretty skint, and full of aches and pains! I'd appreciate your comeback on a thread I put on today about osteoporosis and long term use of anti-epileptic drug's, I have been in so much pain letely, especially my knees, and right elbow, I googled the possible link, and hey presto, there most certainly is a link, and I almost wish I hadn't read it now, it has really frightened me, I'm only 45 and I have a lot of living to do yet! Ok, no more seizures, but I'm in a wheelchair, no thanks!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyway, let me know how you are doing, and I wish you all the best for your exams my friend!

Best Wishes

Elaine x

Hi Elaine , Merry christmas and a happy new year to you and your family as well.
Glad to hear you cleared the course ! kudos. Have been off CWE myself for a while because of exams in january. Christmas in India is pretty low key , since there aren't many christians around. But the few that are here celebrate it with great pomp. I find myself making excuses to go to my buddy Shaun (fellow doc) 's house to sample his mum's plum cake and marzipan.Here's hoping you have a great holiday season and face the new year with joy , enthusiasm and no seizures !

Hi There Drarvindr

I hope all is well with you? I just thought I'd drop you a line and catch up, I've not been on CWE for a while, but I put my good news onto a thread yesterday, I wanted to share it with everyone, it's not that often that I have good news these days! In case you didn't see it, I found out this week that I passed my university course on Epilepsy Care & Management, so now that I have a qualification, I may be able to go on and use it hopefully working with people with epilepsy, or people facing surgery, I would love to be able to do that!

I'm still working on the book, I've had some computer problems, and not being the most technically minded of people, I've struggled a bit these last few months, I will get it finished!

My seizures have more or less cleared up! I am so pleased about this, I've had a couple of very mild auras (caused by too much Xmas red wine) but apart from that, no problems, it looks as though maybe it was my right Hippocampus that was causing all the trouble, anyway, it remains in a jar in London, and I recently had a letter asking for my permission for them to use it in medical research, I said no problems, do what you want with it, if it helps other people, that's all that matters to me!

I hope you are looking forward to Xmas, do you make a big song and dance of it there, or is it a bit more low key than it is here? I have happy memories of Xmas as a child, but it's all blown out of proportion these days, and so expensive!

Anyway, I do hope all is well, and it would be great to hear from you if you get the chance?

Best Wishes

Elaine