Epilepsy Canada Influencer: Sarah Hepher
Meet Epilepsy Canada Influencer: Sarah Hepher
“Finding others who finally get what I have been going through my whole life, alone. Finding a cure to epilepsy would feel like a miracle, as I would love to live a life without medication as well as saying goodbye to the fear of a “next” seizure. Most importantly it would mean that so many other young people, people of all ages really, would not have to experience the same fear, uncertainty, and anger that I felt as a teenager. At this point in my life, I feel comfortable to share my story and speak with others who have been dealing with the same episodes and experiences as me, and to understand that you are not alone in how you feel and that your story can be shared.”
Sarah’s Journey:
My journey with epilepsy started at a very young age. Throughout elementary school I experienced Petit Mal seizures for 3-4 years. Between Grade 3 to 7 I would experience them without anyone knowing what caused them. These episodes slowed down my learning and made school difficult for me. Right when I turned 14 I had my first grand Mal seizure and after that the doctors diagnosed me with JME (Juvenile myoclonic epilepsy).
After the diagnosis, came many doctors appointments, EEG's, scans, and trying to figure out a pattern in my seizures to come up with a plan on how to get me stable. My doctors first prescribed me with Keppra to start, however within the span of 2 years of experimenting with different medications I experienced 40 seizures over two years. This proved very difficult for me during my high school years as I lost a lot of time and felt like I was in the hospital constantly. I struggled with my mental health in these years, as I did not understand why this was happening to me and I kept fighting the fact that I was epileptic. The feeling of not feeling "normal" as a growing teen was all I thought about. I constantly fight with my anxiety/PTSD to this day from my seizures as I live in constant fear of not knowing when I could have another one. 6 years after my initial diagnosis, my doctors finally found the right prescription for me (epival or divalproex) and so far I have lived seizure free for 7 years up until a few months ago.
Some big life changes, starting a business, and of course stress, I had another seizure which led to the reopening of past trauma all over again. Even though the anxiety and PTSD came back, I dug deep within myself to say - there has to be others out there who are going through this too. Which is now where my confidence to become an Epilepsy Canada Influencer came to fruition. I took the courage to reach out and sign up in hopes of finally finding my community. Finding others who finally get what I have been going through my whole life, alone. Finding a cure to epilepsy would feel like a miracle, as I would love to live a life without medication as well as saying goodbye to the fear of a “next” seizure. Most importantly it would mean that so many other young people, people of all ages really, would not have to experience the same fear, uncertainty, and anger that I felt as a teenager. At this point in my life, I feel comfortable to share my story and speak with others who have been dealing with the same episodes and experiences as me, and to understand that you are not alone in how you feel and that your story can be shared.
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