Epilepsy Through A Child's Eyes

By Rachel Skaug

This is a story about a personal 10-year long childhood journey on living with epilepsy. After trying numerous medications and a special diet, brain surgeries played a significant role in beating epilepsy for good. Overcoming a battle like this gives her hope to inspire others with her story and encourages others to never stop fighting your battles

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookRix
• Release date: Jun 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9783748707592

Rachel Skaug

I am from Madison, Wisconsin but currently live in northern Minnesota. I have one brother and no sisters. I had epilepsy for the first ten years of my life. I have been seizure free now since my last brain surgery in 1998. I have a book out called "Epilepsy Through A Child's Eyes" I now live a normal healthy life. I graduated high school in 2007 and got an associates degree in early childhood in 2012. I have also been married since 2010 and have two healthy daughters with no medical issues

Book preview

Chapter 1

Cast all your worries on him, because he cares for you.

Peter 5:7

Chapter 1

Oh no, here it comes again—please, please, no, not another one. I spasm and cannot control my body. I tense up on the floor, arching my back and raising my arms while crying in fear. My mother comes running to my side and worry covers her face. My body loses control of its actions during the spasm as she tries to nurture her baby girl back to reality. Just one spasm has passed, with the rest of an intense and rough fight yet to come.

On a hot summer day in Madison, Wisconsin on July 15, 1988, I was born weighing 7 pounds, 6 ounces. My life started out like any other normal developing child. I was growing and gaining weight and even getting the required shots that every baby is supposed to get. I was born to two loving and caring parents. They were so proud to be new parents. In November, I went to my family doctor for my 4-month check-up. My mom had expressed some concerns she had that I sometimes made these strange body movements. It almost looked like I was straining to have a bowel movement. My doctor brushed it off, saying, Different babies do different funny things. Before I knew anything, I started having these spasms at about four months old.

At the time, I went to an in-home childcare provider, while my parents went to work during the day. The babysitter also noticed these strange movements I was making. My mom started referring to these strange movements as spasms. About two weeks later, the babysitter said I got really fussy after one of the spasms.

When the spasms started occurring, little did I know they would make my life very difficult for a long time. My mom started jotting down how often I was doing this and the characteristics of the episodes. Some of the characteristics were tensing up, arching back, eyes quivering, eyes rolling up, eyes reddening and watering, and raising arms. They start out gradually and then would intensify. My first recorded spastic episode was the night of November 14, 1988. The spasms lasted two to three seconds at first, and then became four to five seconds. I did not know what was happening and I cried during and after my spasms.

The next day, on November 15, I had three seizures (although my parents didn’t know yet what they were). By now, they had gotten stronger and more frequent. I was fussy after each seizure. There was no pattern to these seizures during the daytime hours. That night, I had two more seizures. At this point, my parents felt very tired and worried from all that was happening. On Wednesday the 16th, four more seizures happened, one during the day, two in the evening, and one during the night. On Thursday the 17th, I had five, three during the day and two in the evening. On Friday the 18th, I had four more seizures, two during the day, and two in the evening. Every day that these seizures went on, they would last two to three seconds and then build up to four to five seconds. Ten to twelve spasms happened during each episode and there would be a ten- to twenty-second gap between them. While all of this was going on, I had no consistent schedule to my day, while most babies by this age have a schedule of eating, sleeping, and diapering. After the first week of recording these seizures, my parents were tremendously worried and scared. They did not know what to do, where to go or who to turn to for help.

My mom called my doctor’s office and spoke to one of the nurses. Mom asked if she could come and wait in the waiting room until I had one of these spasms, so the doctor could see them. The doctor agreed. Mom sat in the waiting room at the doctor’s office, and when I started having one of these spasms, she got the nurse’s attention, and the nurse led us back to a private room. When the doctor came in, they saw firsthand what this