Cable's Calling: Born to be a Service Dog: What is epilepsy?

What is epilepsy?-

The most common definition of epilepsy includes it being a disease in which a person has two or more unprovoked seizures. Amanda has had this condition since her first day of life and describes her seizures as “an electrical storm in the brain.”

Throughout her life Amanda has experienced a roller coaster of changing seizure types. Some have impaired her awareness, while she has been able to hear and sometimes talk through others. She has had convulsive seizures where she loses consciousness, as well as partial seizures that you might not even notice happening, even if you were having a conversation with her at the time.

Some seizures have affected just one part of her body, for example, uncontrolled twitching of her arm. Her most frequent seizures involve becoming temporarily blind until the seizure passes.

Cluster seizures are debilitating for Amanda. These are repeated seizures that begin as short episodes, but keep recurring, closer together, and longer in duration. These take a toll on her physical stamina, and can sometimes lead to generalized impaired awareness seizures.

Epilepsy can have any number of causes, including head injuries, stroke, a brain tumor,

birth trauma and brain infections. They may also be part of a neurological disorder. In most cases, the cause of epilepsy is unknown.

In Amanda’s case her blood sugar and calcium levels plummeted in the hours after her birth causing her to go into uncontrolled seizures. This resulted in her being transferred to Sick Kids Hospital where she received exceptional care for the next 18 years of her life.

Here are First Aid Tips for Seizures as taken from the Epilepsy York Region website.

SEIZURE/POST SEIZURE SAFETY

· Stay Calm

· Remove Physical Items

· Time the Seizure

· Recovery Position while on ground

· Move Dangerous Objects

· Put something soft under head to prevent further injury

· Do not restrain individual

· Call 911 if long lasting or injury during seizure

· Stay to reassure person after, make sure they are aware and feeling well

· Do not give food or drinks right after seizure (can cause choking)