We were driving at the time to visit his Grandpa’s graveside because it was my birthday and this was a family tradition. We pulled up in the midst of a busy 4 lane road and flagged down help the minute we saw him convulsing in the back seat.
His first tonic-clonic seizure was by far the most frightening thing this mom has ever seen! It was a very dramatic scene as fire fighters and paramedics attended to him.
He passed out, which would become his norm when having these seizures. I thought our son had died. I had no idea what was happening.
After four more seizures that same week and a lot of investigation by the wonderful medical staff at Children’s Hospital in Winnipeg, MB, Canada, our son was diagnosed with epilepsy. It was the start of a very new life for us all.
Medication side effects including Stevens Johnson Syndrome, a very serious allergic reaction to medication, several more tonic-clonic seizures in addition to focal seizures, and the overall negative impact of this life-changing diagnosis created havoc in our world. The fragile social beings that 13 year olds are, was fragmented by the desire to be like his peers and yet unable at the time to have the freedom that summer that he was so counting on. He went from an active, free-spirited young man to a tentative one.
(Ryan’s Mom)