Short Hair Diva

November is nearing its end, which means that my good intentions of promoting Epilepsy Awareness month on a weekly basis didn’t happen. That’s why I decided to post this little spiel today.

Epilepsy is a neurological condition characterized by seizures. Seizures occur when the brain’s electrical balance is interrupted by overactive electrical discharges.  Seizures can occur after brain damage or injury, or for unknown reasons. If someone has two or more unprovoked seizures, they’re usually diagnosed with epilepsy. According to the Epilepsy Foundation, it affects roughly 3 million Americans and 50 million people around the world. It’s not contagious.

Living with Epilepsy

Epilepsy can be controlled by medication and surgery, but it has no cure. Epilepsy affects your life–and your caregivers’ lives–in ways you can’t even imagine. I have been seizure-free for nearly four years, but my monthly medication costs with the insurance discount are more than some people’s monthly car payments.

Learn About Epilepsy

I completely understand that it would be impossible to support every single charity or cause in the world (hey, I’ll admit that I change the channel when those sad pet abuse commercials come on) but I find it irritating that so many people could not care less about epilepsy. Many people don’t even know what it is, or they assume it’s some form of retardation. My friends and family have been wonderful and most of them made generous donations when I participated in the National Walk for Epilepsy in 2009 and again in 2010.

Greg Grunberg Talks About It!

I urge you all to visit TalkAboutIt.org, a website founded by Greg Grunberg of Felicity, Alias, and Heroes fame. It is a site where you can learn about epilepsy in a fun environment and hear from Greg and other celebrities.

Epilepsy and seizures affect nearly 3 million Americans so it makes perfect sense that November should be Epilepsy Awareness Month. It’s the perfect time to educate yourself about epilepsy and seizures and it really is okay to Talk About It!

You also need to visit my friend Kirsten @cheekymonkey8 ‘s totally nifty blog www.gone-bananas.com where you can take a peek at my guest post about Learning to Live with Epilepsy.

This year’s Epilepsy Awareness Month theme is “Get seizure smart!” so I’d also like to share the following graphic, courtesy of the Epilepsy Foundation. (Clicking on the picture allows you to enlarge it.)