Epilepsy is Invisible

Epilepsy, 

chronic 

neurological

invisible

not really there?

as long as it is controlled

Should we hide from the public eye ~ 

just in case.....

Epilepsy

caused by anything 

that affects brain function including

scar tissue

head trauma

altered brain chemistry 

idiopathic: no known cause!  

no known cause 

no known cure

the individual?

vulnerable, powerless and alone.  

Cures - nothing 

broad based

standard

across the board.

Conventional medication the only solution?

‘you’ll have to learn to live with it.’??

but only part of a solution

many of us with epilepsy 

do learn to live with it

as do our families.

Living with epilepsy means

knowing ~

what kind of seizures 

how predictable they are - or not

who will be there to help us with 

recovery from seizures ~

letting us know 

where we are

what happened

when it happened

what spaces in time to live seizure free?

an hour?  

a day? 

a couple of weeks? 

More? 

Less?

so the control epilepsy holds

is a small as possible.

Living with epilepsy means

medication once or many times a day

one or more medications

surgery

recovering from surgery

so the control epilepsy holds 

in our lives is minimized.

And in all this, 

we wish to share and participate with

family, 

friends, 

employment, 

community

“Men think epilepsy divine, merely because they do not understand it...

We will one day understand what causes it, and then cease to call it 

divine.  And so it is with everything in the universe.”

~ Hippocrates

BC Epilepsy Society

Phone: (604) 875-6704

Phone: (778) 533-0790 (Victoria Office)

No longer active: 

Victoria Epilepsy and Parkinson’s Society

Author's note: Edited July 27, 2024