Another Unexpected Path {Epilepsy Awareness Month}

On April 7, 2012, I wrote these words:

Another unexpected path...

I started to call it a detour…it sure seems like one to us!  But then I realize that this is not a detour…it’s actually the route planned for us since before the foundation of the world, by the Author and Creator of all.  It’s “THE path”…totally unexpected by us, but no surprise at all to the One who holds us in the palm of His hand.

Today our 12-year-old daughter was diagnosed with Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy.  It wasn’t a totally unexpected diagnosis…we’ve known for over a week that we were more than likely dealing with some sort of seizure disorder, and suspected for several days that the specific disorder would be Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy.  And we’ve had a pretty good idea since December that something was wrong somewhere…although it took us a while to get to the right doctor to get to the bottom of things.

Epilepsy has definitely been an unexpected path for us. JME is a genetic epilepsy, and to our knowledge, there is no history of epilepsy in our family. When Bayley had her first seizure (which we weren't sure was even definitely a seizure at the time, as she was alone when it happened; friends outside the room said it sounded like a seizure, but we had no way of knowing) almost 3 years ago, we had no idea what was in store for her and for our family.

As in every other "storm of life" we've faced, God has been abundantly faithful throughout the years since. There have been some major bumps in the road along the way, but for the most part, Bay's seizures are well-controlled by medication and lifestyle precautions (adequate sleep being the most important of those). She has been seizure-free for well over a year now, and for that we are extremely thankful!

Bay recently started a new blog (Pure Life), and after a couple of years of being very hesitant to talk about her epilepsy, has spoken publicly about it there. Not only am I beyond proud and excited of her new blogging endeavor, I am also thankful beyond words for the work God has done and is doing in her life and her desire to share His faithfulness in every area, including her epilepsy.

November is Epilepsy Awareness Month. Last year around this time, I created, but never shared, a Seizure First Aid graphic. I may share some additional facts about epilepsy later this month, but for now, I'll close with that graphic. I'll just come out and say that graphic design is not my strong suit, and this graphic was created with a website I'd never used before and haven't used since, so it's not the most professional or artistic of graphics. :)  The info it contains, however, could be lifesaving.

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