I have been epileptic for 65 years now. I have lived in fear, shame and self-doubt. I have learned to push back to make room for a life, with some of the ordinary comforts and joys life can bring. Our lives are gifts. But we are responsible for living them. I promote speaking and writing about E. We can all make a difference so keep reading...
Saturday, March 9, 2019
Waiting On "The Cure"
So, I am nearly seventy now. Another couple of years and I will reach that mark in my lifetime and after all this time, I have yet to see a proven cure for Epilepsy. Sure, the drugs have improved. Sure, surgical techniques have improved. But...no "cure" has arrived.
I suppose it is something like arriving in the future and there being no flying cars or teleportation devices. Rats!
A cure for E. is something vague, something to be hoped for, but probably not very likely to occur, at least in my lifetime.
Then what do we do with our hopes? Well, just what we are already doing---walking, running and donating for the Cure. Waiting for it to come. We watch days and then years pass. We read everything we can, we give to organizations who say they are working for a cure. We stay good-natured and optimistic, thinking positivity will cosmically speed things along, but still there is nothing for us. But for many, a cure is their dream...
I have an older sister and she is blind. She has the acronymic RLF. Retrolental Fibroplasia (RLF) was caused in the 1950's by too much oxygen administered to premature infants. She does not sit around waiting for a cure, though, many folks have asked her over the years if she would want to be cured of her blindness. She has always answered "no".
Her dream in life has been to be able to drive a car. She has gotten very excited over the prospect of the self-driving car recently and is hoping she will be able to own and use one one day. Personally, I hope her wish is fulfilled...
It seems, to my way of thinking at least, impractical or implausible to find a cure for an overarching condition like this because there are so many kinds and types of E. And if there was a cure, upon whom would this cure be bestowed? Would a new hierarchy of severity and deservedness be created to winnow the Some from the Many?
I guess I sound a little pessimistic and a bit paranoid here, but these are the kinds of things I imagine with talk of a pending "cure".
I get it---I mean all of us would like to wake one morning to the idea that we are solid and no longer prey to seizures, no matter the kind. I wish for that eventuality, too. I am so tired of having epilepsy. It makes me weary down to the nubs of my soul to have to even think about it. I am so tired of having to say to another person that I had a seizure or that I need to lie down, sit down, drink water, close my eyes, etc. because I feel a seizure coming on. And I am equally exhausted of being teased with the idea of a cure, lingering just around the corner.
If one should materialize, I will be glad. Until then, I am finished waiting for the cure to find me. I think it's a reasonable posture to take, don't you?
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1 comment:
Mrs. Paula how are you doing? I hope you continue to have the security and support of those around you.
Prayers for you.
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