ANGELS OF EPILEPSY
December - #AOENEWS, Articles, Blogs, & More!
Jon Duchac enjoys the little things. Almost every morning, he takes time to read from a green, paperback meditation book on his front porch down the street from Horlick Field. Smoking a cigarette or two, the 60-year-old taps ashes into a bucket, watching birds chirp and waving at neighbors.
For the past four decades, finding a moment's peace hasn't always been this easy for Duchac.
He suffers from epilepsy, a bad case of it. In 1980, at the age of 22, Duchac said he started having more than a dozen grand mal seizures daily. Brain surgeries and excessive medication made Duchac's life "a living hell," he told The Journal Times. But a relatively unknown procedure has given him his life back for the first time in decades.
A pacemaker-like machine, a vagus nerve stimulator, was implanted just above Duchac's heart in January. Since then, he's been seizure-free for almost a year and is no longer taking a debilitating number of medications.
"I'm 60 years old and haven't felt this good in decades," he said.
In 1980, a chunk of Duchac's brain's right temporal lobe was surgically removed at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota. The surgery worked — he didn't have a seizure for 15 years — but he nearly died in the weeks that followed the surgery. He also suffered from severe memory loss, an expected side effect of having part of your brain taken out.
After the seizures resurfaced in 1995, another surgery removed parts of his parietal lobe and hippocampus. That kept the seizures at bay until 2006.
READ MORE: https://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/health/sc-hlth-vns-epilepsy-treatment-1212-story.html
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We give much thanks to "Vain Bodies by Nikki' in Atlanta, GA for their support and sponsorship for Angels Of Epilepsy Foundation.
*For more information about their beauty, cosmetic, & personal care, visit www.vainbodies.com Also on Facebook and Instagram.
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What A Difference by Derra Howard
Angels Of Epilepsy saw this great inspiring post on Derra Howard's instagram and we were so excited to see a survivor speak and show the reality of living with epilepsy.
DIFFERENCE//What a difference in two months! This year I've been through so many things with my epilepsy. I'm truly blessed.
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The picture on the LEFT was in early October. I had a seizure and fell face forward on the floor. I woke up delirious, with a black eye, swollen nose, and swollen mouth. This particular seizure episode scared me so much because I ended up having a concussion. Then, I had two more seizures after that.
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Now fast forward to the picture on the RIGHT, which is now. It took a lot of time resting, family time, and going back to church. Praying. Prayers.
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Sometimes you have to realize what's important. God, Good Health, and Family...
Derra Howard
South Louisiana
Epilepsy Survivor/Advocate
Instagram: @derrahoward and @myepilepsysupport
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According to the World Health Organization, approximately 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, making it one of the most common neurological diseases.
Epilepsy is a chronic disorder of the brain characterized by recurring seizures, which are brief episodes of involuntary movement of the body sometimes accompanied by loss of consciousness. The disorder spans all age groups, and to onlookers it can instill fear, misunderstanding and discrimination.
November is National Epilepsy Awareness Month. VCU News spoke with Victor Gonzalez-Montoya, M.D., co-medical director of the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at VCU Medical Center to better understand the disorder. Gonzalez-Montoya is also an assistant professor in the Department of Neurology in the Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine.
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Much thanks to our sponsors at The HEMPWORX - Quality CBD Oil Company, for their support to Angels Of Epilepsy Foundation.
*For more information, visit www.campbellclaudia.com and on social media @letstalkcbdbenefits
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This is a topic that many people have reached out to me in regards to and as someone who avidly takes part in exercise, I find it beneficial and very important to break it down to get the greatest information so anyone wanting to hit the gym, can go safely.
When I was first diagnosed with epilepsy, all of the negative emotions in the sky came raining down on me like a ton of bricks. Sadness, depression, frustration, loneliness, and even anger. I rarely left home. Devastated and wrapped in a blanket of “Why me?”
Let me let you in on a secret….Pity parties suck. They will eventually get boring. Trust me. I thank God for my spouse and my family who allowed me to have the time to “feel” and not simply bottle up the painful emotions that I felt following the diagnosis, but pulled me out and were determined to give me the strength to overcome.
I had to regain my ability to walk. Literally and emotionally. My husband and I began to walk each day. We decided that we would transform ourselves from the inside out. Physically, Emotionally, and spiritually. Eat better, think better and do our best to just live our lives better.
Over time, I felt optimism begin to sprout within me and my self-esteem rekindling. It wasn’t long before we made our way to the gym, and I fell in-love with fitness.
READ MORE: http://tiffanykairos.com/how-to-exercise-while-living-with-epilepsy/
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ANGELS OF EPILEPSY INC.
Email: angelsofepilepsy@gmail.com
Website: www.angelsofepilepsy.org
Phone: 678-239-4193
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/aoepilepsy/
Twitter: @AOEpilepsy