Lauren's Journey with Epilepsy

I'm also hoping to chronicle our journey as a family and bring awareness and education to a condition that is often misunderstood. I also hope to educate others on our decision to try and wean Lauren off some or all of her medications and try Medical Cannabis. Sometimes these medications and their side effects are worse than the seizures themselves and Medical Cannabis may help. I know we will hav

e our critics but I want this to be a positive place for education on both MMJ and Epilepsy. At the age of 3 Lauren was diagnosed with Absence Seizures. For other reasons she had to have an EEG and her reading came back abnormal. The Doctor decided at this point not to medicate from an abnormal reading since we had not seen these seizures occur. This type of seizure is now called Petit Mal. Years went by with no issues. When she was twelve years old we began noticing the physical apperance of these seizures. Blank face staring, and eye rolling. This is when we decided to medicate. The reasons being, she would lose moments of time during class, which could affect her learning, or she could fall down and hurt herself if these occurred while riding a bike or walking down stairs. We went almost two years very controlled. She was doing well in school and was enjoying her friends and playing basketball and volleyball. Last year though things changed. Late November 2012, Lauren had her first, of what would be many, Tonic Clonic seizures, also known at Grand Mal. We were all stunned and baffled by the sudden change. Doctors did what they thought they should do and added more medications to control the seizures, which were happening now every 3 to 4 days. Her highest point was 5 meds. Currently Lauren is on 4 medications. We have had some good months with no Tonic Clonic seizures, but occasionaly get the Petit Mal. This comes at a high price though, with all the side effects of all the meds. Over the past year our family has had to become accustomed to our "New Normal" and Lauren's. Because of all the side effects from the 4 different medications Lauren has had to stop going to school. First of all they make her very tired. She sleeps most of her day. We have learned the term "dumb down" and thats just what these meds do. She can't think or remember things like she used to. She lost her taste for food and at times they can make her very irritable. Life had changed. We are parent's and a family that are concerned and want to see their daughter and sister return to her life. We have listened to the Doctors and do what they suggest, but with no real definite path. This past year I have made it my mission to become more educated about Epilepsy and about all these drugs and become a strong advocate for not only Lauren but my family and others out there. There is strong evidence, maybe not through medical studies, but through families dealing with far worse situations than us, that have found success with Cannabis. We are fighting to start that journey ourselves and hopefully give Lauren some of her life back.