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To listen to these clips you will need an audio player on your computer. You can download a free audio player from Microsoft here. Helen TaylorHelen is a lively lady who loves living by the sea. She has been seizure-free for six years. This follows a series of nocturnal seizures beginning out of the blue in 1993. She had to surrender her driving licence in line with DVLA regulations but has since reapplied and taken motorway lessons. She believes strongly that if the general public could only treat people with epilepsy as they would any other member of society, a diagnosis of epilepsy would seem a lot less of a burden to deal with. Vanessa HolmesVanessa had her first seizure in 1990 without warning. She experienced several convulsive seizures after that. These were sometimes with a brief warning or aura and very often when run down or if travelling by train. She adapted her lifestyle accordingly, showering rather than taking baths, and always travelling accompanied on trains. More recently, her seizures are under control, thanks to medication. She has been able to apply for her driving licence and is enjoying her new found freedom for the first time. She is a successful career woman, head hunted in her previous job in the publishing field and working from home, still in the business of books. Alex SimpsonAlex has endured the effects of epilepsy for years. Born with a large malformation in the main artery of her brain, a severe haemorrhage sent her into a coma when she was 17. Chronic seizures and a diagnosis of epilepsy followed. Despite many therapies and treatments, including Gamma knife surgery, Alex struggled with poor health having up to 450 seizures a year. When referred to Professor John Duncan, she was able to benefit from new developments in epilepsy treatment. MRI scans and other tests revealed the precise cause of her seizures and what could be removed by neurosurgery. She is, in her own words, 95% better as a result! Helen HollisFrom her first seizure in 1982, Helen waited eight years for a diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy, despite recurring seizures. She had to put her nursing career on hold but finally qualified in 1989, once appropriate medication controlled the seizures better. More recently, she has experienced a lot of prejudice in the workplace culminating in her resignation a year ago. She had begun studying for a psychology degree but finds her recall is badly affected by the medication. She has had to put that on hold temporarily because of the stress triggering more seizures. Now she's enjoying life again with her husband and two children but is keen to use her nursing qualification and counselling skills to help others in a similar situation to her. Leslie O'SheaLeslie developed epilepsy as a result of scarring to his brain, after he contracted bronchial pneumonia and scarlet fever at the age of three. When he was young, he was having up to three complex partial seizures a day. He once got barred from a pub when he had a seizure before he'd even drunk his first pint. Coming to, out in the streets, he retraced his steps and went back to apologise to the landlord who ignored his explanation and said he'd had quite enough to drink already. Les has been self-employed as a tailor for a number of years following an incident at work where colleagues expressed their fear of his epilepsy. As chairman of his local epilepsy support group - the Rochdale, Oldham & Bury Epilepsy Society - he is a keen ambassador for better recognition of the condition. Bryan BellFollowing a bout of encephalitis in his early 20s, Bryan was diagnosed with epilepsy and has had seizures ever since. These vary from brief absences to convulsive seizures with loss of consciousness with varying degrees of confusion and disorientation in between. Bryan has taken early retirement due to his epilepsy and although he worked for 16 years following the diagnosis, his seizures got gradually more frequent and employers less supportive. Now he has a loyal network of family and friends who understand his epilepsy and appreciate the limitations it sometimes places on him. Others haven't been so supportive and have gradually lost touch. Ann NeedleAnn developed epilepsy as a baby and has had seizures ever since, except for a phase between her fourth and 17th birthdays where they were controlled by medication. Her seizures are complex partial. She gets a brief aura or warning - a feeling of deja vu, a quickening heart beat and an impulse down her right arm. She often puts her hand in her mouth, becomes incredibly scared of people, yet can hold a conversation of which she remembers nothing afterwards. Despite having up to 40 seizures a month at university, she excelled in her studies, gaining a degree and a masters in psychology and training now as a counsellor. Yet she finds prospective employers hesitate because of her epilepsy and she is currently unemployed and finding it hard to get work. Previous employment experiences have dented her confidence and self-esteem and she is soon to undergo surgery to remove the damaged part of her brain. With a 90% chance of improvement and a 70% chance of a complete cure, Ann hopes no longer to be plagued by the unpredictable and frequent seizures, but more importantly by people's misinformed attitudes towards them. Tim PitmanTim teaches at a private school and leads a full and active life. He has had epilepsy since his teens and in recent years has experienced on average one seizure a year of the tonic-clonic, convulsive variety. These have been known to occur in the classroom, in airports and in other public places. Due to their completely unpredictable nature, Tim tries to be open about his epilepsy with all acquaintances. He is a keen player and follower of cricket, trained hard last year to run the London marathon on behalf of NSE and is a great ambassador for raising awareness and understanding of the condition. September 2003 |
Helen Taylor, 77 |
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