I want to tell you, or at least try to tell you, what life is like for someone who suddenly becomes Epileptic due to a head injury.
Head injury that leaves you being Epileptic creates a very challenging life, to say the least. My doctors state that I’m “100% recovered and can go to work with no restrictions,” but yet I have to be on medication for the rest of my life. The medication doesn’t stop seizures; It’s supposed to help keep them under control. But, according to the warning label, it can cause seizures.
I’m “100% recovered,” only with less than 33% of the knowledge I had before the head injury.
“No restrictions,” yet I’m required to be on a medication that doesn’t stop the seizures and has side effects that by law keep me from doing jobs I used to do. Even a court judge has stated “100% no restriction, but must stay on medication.” It is amazing how even I, a brain damaged individual, can see a major contradiction in terms with those statements.
I talked to the doctor explaining to him that with the medication he put me on, I cannot do the jobs that I still had the memory to do, due to side effects. He stated that “without the medication the seizures get worse,” but yet failed to mention that in a report given to the judge. So now I’m left fighting to get my life back and solve health problems on my own.
I’ve learned how to keep the seizures under control without medication. Such a lovely life for someone who was under the impression that if I was insured while I on the job, my health insurance would cover all expenses, and my years with the company would have meant something to the owners. My experience has taught me that the time and effort given to a company means nothing. If the job has risks, you are not insured…no matter what you believe.
Learning what I have about insurance companies not wanting to cover you, and a job not being a career, I’ve come to the conclusion that some injuries should not treated in a hospital. I now question why a doctor brings a patient back to life, and keeps them alive, when the patient will not be a “full person” when released from the hospital.
When I returned from the hospital, my children no longer knew their dad. They saw their father’s body, but he was just not the same “dad” they knew. Having a new person to get to know as your parent and not fully understanding why he is as different as he is caused so much conflict. Through all of this, the parent is trying to figure out how to become the person he once was, yet unable to fully remember how he accomplished things before the accident.
I have yet to perfect any progress I’ve made by controlling the seizures myself. I have a lot of books to read in order to replace the level of education I once had. I do not have all the answers for becoming the same person I was before, personality wise. I just continue trying to cure myself with the one thing I do remember before I was injured — medications don’t always work as well as your own body alone works at healing itself. Most of the medications I’ve been on have either slowed down the recovery or damaged parts that were trying to recover.
Next: Insurance Companies Dictate Medical Treatment. Not Your Doctor.
D. D.