There are many valuable resources a parent can call on when their child receives a diagnosis of epilepsy. Doctors, Health Care professionals in all shapes and sizes, Teachers and other parents to name just a few.
But this clip from the 1998 film ‘First Do No Harm.’ Highlights an often-overlooked source of information. Meryl Streep who plays the mother of Robbie goes to visit an adult with epilepsy to try and find out about his experiences.
Whilst the tale he tells will be enough to make most parents’ hearts sink, there is an important message that can be passed onto kids. It’s not about the life you’ve lost; it’s about the life you can build!
The other major benefit for parents in approaching adults with epilepsy for advice is that they can tell you where their parents went wrong and what didn’t work for them.
Not to mention the homily my nurse in charge is fond of quoting ‘Forewarned is forearmed!’
OK so you might be looking at the worst-case scenario, but if you know exactly how bad things can potentially be, you have time to put safety nets in. For example he talks about having had a seizure in the middle of his school talent show and his parents not going out in public for a long time afterwards.
Several parents on the forum part of this site have talked about speaking to their child’s class about epilepsy, what happens when you have a seizure and what to do about it. In this guy’s case, it sounds like that would have been the ideal thing to do so the kids weren’t freaked out and the seizure wasn’t treated as an abnormal and embarrassing event.
Lastly there are the benefits for your child. They may not be old enough or confident enough to verbalize everything that’s happening to them. They may even be embarrassed (if they are an older child) having to talk about things that are physically graphic with a parent. However another adult who you trust that has epilepsy knows what they are going through from personal experience and can provide them with valuable advice and empathy.
Delicious
Digg
Reddit
Magnoliacom
Newsvine
Furl
Facebook
Google
Yahoo
Technorati
Icerocket
Very true
I have a cousin who has epilepsy. He's now in his 30s and has had it since he was about 8. Being able to talk to him is a huge help for me--and for my son, who adores and admires Tom.
Tom has a pretty good, pretty regular life. He works fulltime. He isn't married, but that's because he says he hasn't yet found the right woman. He has two or three seizures a year at most, and, while he doesn't drive, he manages to turn that into a strong point because he bikes everywhere.
He and my son call themselves 'epi buddies', and it's really helped to make my son feel normal. He wouldn't use that word, but I can see how important this relationship is to him.