Seize: The Story - Terisa Sitton

I was a day old when I started having seizures. 

I was transferred to Primary Children’s and spent about 5 days there, they took me off the medicine after I stopped having seizures and sent me home. 

I remained seizure free for a long time, until I had a seizure again at almost 9 years old and in my third grade classroom! It was Tonic Clonic. The only thing I remember is waking up in a wheel chair in the school hallway heading to the office. My mom came and got me and we went to the hospital. Once there, they ran tests and made arrangement for me to go see a Neurologist. Over the next two weeks I had two more seizures so they decided to put me on medication. 

For the last 7 years I have continued to have thousands of seizures ranging from auras, absence, partial complex and full complex seizures. I have been going through all the testing to see if I am eligible to have brain surgery. The fact of surgery scares me. I have talked to so many people about it like my family; they really want me to get it to help with my seizures. All the doctors I have talked to says it is a good idea. And my friends are very supportive about this idea with surgery. Also my friends are very supportive with me and my epilepsy, they have always been there for me and helped me through so much. I love them! I am very open about my epilepsy; I tell anyone that I’m with just so I can be safe in case I have a seizure. 

I am constantly fighting the stigma of having epilepsy and I have made it my mission to tell people about it, to help them be more comfortable with people that have seizures. Breaking that stigma is why my family is involved with seizure training and why we are all so open to friends and anybody who wants to know more. 

I may have epilepsy, but epilepsy doesn’t have ME!!!