My seizures had a pattern. I would feel an aura in my abdomen area and it was very indicative that I was about to have a seizure. So when I felt courageous, I would tell someone. I didn’t always feel courageous, so you know, I probably kept it to myself. But I would have this aura, and the next thing I would remember is waking up in the nurse’s office, and people surrounding me. I would ask what did I do. And there were some embarrassing moments, um, peeing in the classroom or hitting my teacher with a flute. It warms my heart that people were looking after me, but I still felt very much alone. I am really fortunate that my epilepsy was an operable procedure. A lot of people don’t have that opportunity.

My name is Megan. I’m a volunteer with the Epilepsy Foundation of Northern California. I’ve been volunteering for the past five years. I got involved because I had epilepsy once. I was born with a tumor in my head, on the right side of my brain. I’m very fortunate to have had surgery to remove that tumor and I no longer have seizures, and that’s been 32 years now.

Sports and athletics have been a big part of my recovery. It’s something that I have control over. I can set a goal and achieve it with the work that I put into it. There is no one telling me that I can’t do it. There is no one telling me I’m not good enough. I know if I work hard enough at it, I will achieve it, and I prove that to myself many times over. In 2002, I ran my first marathon, it was the Boston Marathon, a very challenging race to enter. A few years later, I did my first sprint triathlon in Boston. I loved that so much I decided I want to do an Ironman. So I go right from the sprint triathlon to an Ironman competition which is a two and a half mile swim, 112 mile bike, and a marathon to follow. In recent years, I’ve transitioned from Ironmans and marathons into long-distance hiking. I moved to California because of the expansive network of national and state parks here. Yosemite being one of my favorite places, I go on long-distance hikes up to 20-25 miles a day, covering incredible terrain, scenery, things that you cannot see any other way other than by foot.

Hiking and exploring bring me just incredible confidence. The “I can do” attitude. The “I can do this” on the trails and on the bike and swimming leads me to the “I can do” attitude in so many other areas of my life.

My advice to young kids and adults living with epilepsy is rely on your community. Your friends and family are there for you, but especially reach out to the epilepsy community because they’re the ones that are going to understand you the most. They get it, they’ve been there, they know what you’re going through, and the resources available out there now are incredible.

My name is Megan. I have epilepsy.