La De Dodd Farm: Epilepsy

I had another seizure on April 25th. I was diagnosed with epilepsy during the middle of May, for the second time in twenty years. Then, I had another seizure on Memorial Day. Two days later, I fell down the stairs. I can't drive until December. So, I've spent most of the last three months stuck at home with the girls. Not to mention two solid weeks of rain. We spent a long weekend at Fontana, and I spent a week at my parent's house. Both events were wonderful and relaxing.

I'm having much more success on Lamictal. The month on Keppra was a nightmare, and I feel like I lost a month of my life. I still have symptoms that rotate from headache to stomachache and back again. The concern now on the Lamictal is my liver function. I've had my blood drawn weekly for the past three weeks. The tech always comments on my beautiful veins.

All this time at home has created some Agoraphobia. This seems especially odd to me because, I am a social person, usually always on the go. I find my anxiety attacks at Weaver St., of all places, to be even more odd. Except, the original meaning of the word comes to us from the Greeks, and it meant "fear of the marketplace". I believe this response/behavior will become less and less.

A positive thing to come out of this experience is addressing a problem I have had for twenty years. And, I have made a shift in my job. I am now working as an afterschool teacher. This job with it's few hours and little pay is fabulous. The girls couldn't be more thrilled to have me at school. And, I love being a part of the school community. I'm excited to go to work, love the children, and have fun planning activities. After three days of work with the entire afterschool group of 80 children. I was asked to take my own class of ten Kindergartners, in my own classroom! I will meet my new students today.

Here are a few photos from Tennessee.