I never knew much about epilepsy, still really dont. Ryan, my 18 year old son, started having seizures a couple weeks after graduating from high school. He was out riding his bike one day and Bam it hit him, full on grand mal in the middle of the road. A friend and his 15 year old sister were with him, they were really scared. Our lives would never be the same after this day in July. After a few tests we were informed of his diagnosis, Epilepsy. What? how could this be? we have no history in our family and he has had no sever head trauma. No explanation could be given to us, only that he could live a normal life as long as he took his medications. Well the medications never really worked the way they wanted and he continued to have another seizure. After many months of different medications he seemed to have the seizures under control, but his demeanor was differnt, he was medicated we could tell. He did not like the way the medication made him feel and when he forgot to take them with him on a camping trip the following year his “normal” life ended in a tragic fishing accident. I was so lost when I found out Ryan’s illness and I never could get a straight answer from his doctor, I checked out dozens of books and went online for information. I never found the Epilepsy foundation of NorthernCalifornia until after Ryan was gone. I wish I had, maybe I could have understood him better.

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