Personal Stories: Melina

I have had epilepsy since I was in the 5th grade, or at least, that is when I found out. It was very hard for me to deal with this as a teenager.

My dream was to join the military. And you cannot do that with Epilepsy. Needless to say, I did not take that well. I was very negative about it. Then I met a distant cousin that also has Epilepsy. However, his was much more severe.

As long as I take my medication, I am seizure-free and I blend in fine with people that do not have epilepsy. My cousin on the other hand, cannot be controlled by any medications known. He is in a wheelchair, and needs aid for pretty much everything due to what the seizures have done to him. It made me appreciate my situation. But also, made do some homework on the disease.

Most people do not know what epilepsy is, much less than 1 in 100 people suffer from it. I try to educate people, in case they ever encounter someone having a seizure they know what to do, and also, what not to do.

I am personally a fan of the website epilepsyawarenessday.org, because once a year they have an event at Disneyland, I have not attended, due to my conflicting schedule. But I follow their Facebook page and my friend that works at Disneyland told me the even was very successful at raising money and educating people. I hope this is somewhat helpful.