RanMan
Too Much Experience with Epilepsy
- Messages
- 408
- Reaction score
- 0
- Points
- 91
My name is Randy, I'm Canadian. Music runs in my family and starting from age 9, I was playing drums and guitar with proffesional bands. Up until age 21 (1979) I was a singer/songwriter, music teacher. My only dream in life was to make a good living with my music. (I also developed Ulcerative Colitis at the same time as the "seizure condition" (notice I didn't say epilepsy), the Docs. say the two conditions are connected)
Well, all that had to come to a stop. I was sitting at my desk at my P/T job when I had my first seizure. (Oct./1979) All I remember from that point on was waking up in the ambulance on the way to the hosp. After going through several tests and then seeing a neurologist, the tests showed that there was seizure activity in my lower tempral lobe. He then persribed Dilantin and Pheonobarb (still on today) and the seizures were under control. I was even able to keep my drivers licence.
One major problem though, the pills were severely messing up my co-ordination. I walked like a drunk, slurred my speech, my own family was embarassed to be seen with me.
Since my co-ordination was so bad, I could no longer play guitar or drums and I had to give up teaching.
I was so depressed, I could no longer fulfill my dream, now what was I going to do.
I had to make a career change. I was putting in job applications all over but I had no other experience.
Finally I got hired on by the Federal Government as a courier and mail clerk. I worked my way up to Administraion Manager for the Unemployment Insurance Office for 21 years and then 9 years with Veterans Affairs.
My condition was getting worse with age, no seizures but the meds were blocking my learning ability so I couldn't take on extra duties.
As a result of this, my employer(The Government of Canada) offered me an early retirement package for medical reasons and also counselled me to apply for disability insurance.
I had to learn to live with my disability and work around it.
Randy
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Diagnosed with epilepsy and ulcerative colitis in 1979,
Well, all that had to come to a stop. I was sitting at my desk at my P/T job when I had my first seizure. (Oct./1979) All I remember from that point on was waking up in the ambulance on the way to the hosp. After going through several tests and then seeing a neurologist, the tests showed that there was seizure activity in my lower tempral lobe. He then persribed Dilantin and Pheonobarb (still on today) and the seizures were under control. I was even able to keep my drivers licence.
One major problem though, the pills were severely messing up my co-ordination. I walked like a drunk, slurred my speech, my own family was embarassed to be seen with me.
Since my co-ordination was so bad, I could no longer play guitar or drums and I had to give up teaching.
I was so depressed, I could no longer fulfill my dream, now what was I going to do.
I had to make a career change. I was putting in job applications all over but I had no other experience.
Finally I got hired on by the Federal Government as a courier and mail clerk. I worked my way up to Administraion Manager for the Unemployment Insurance Office for 21 years and then 9 years with Veterans Affairs.
My condition was getting worse with age, no seizures but the meds were blocking my learning ability so I couldn't take on extra duties.
As a result of this, my employer(The Government of Canada) offered me an early retirement package for medical reasons and also counselled me to apply for disability insurance.
I had to learn to live with my disability and work around it.
Randy
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Diagnosed with epilepsy and ulcerative colitis in 1979,
I had finally clawed my way back into the work force and was making a decent wage, I was getting ready to go off of disabilaty and everything went to hell in a hand basket. I'm angry that the doc has limited me in what I can do yet, when I look at the work that I use to do....one of the things involved teaching others, to include individuals for whom English was not their native language and who did not learn well through verbal instruction. The lesson plans perplex me :crying: I have a difficult time following them or comprehending the processes theyy refer to, yet I know that at one time i knew the stuff like the back of my hand...I was the expert to whom even the government and military came to for advice or assistance. Now, I can answer the phone.