My son, Jeremy Micah, looks like any other thirteen-and-a-half year-old:  tall, thin, almost to the point of being too skinny (due to his height), long, dark-brown hair that falls into his eyes, and rather gregarious in nature at times.  One minute he can be very sweet and loving; the next, he tests your patience with his attitude.

He loves to do many things:  read, draw, create games on his computer, skateboard, swim, and hang out with his friends; however, one thing sets him apart from most kids his age, in particular, his friends:  he has epilepsy.

He has had epilepsy since he was two years old, after he fell off a kiddie slide and landed on his head.  He was briefly knocked out and didn't appear to be too terribly injured (much to our relief), but shortly after the incident, he'd fall down without warning and start shaking all over.  It was terrifying to see.  We immediately rushed him to the ER after the first episode; we went back there several more times, to see if there was anything anyone could do to help him.

After extensive testing was performed, doctors informed us that Jeremy had epilepsy.  The news stunned us because up to that point, he had been exceedingly healthy, unlike his younger brother, Colby Shane, who was always going to the Emergency Room for one thing or another. 

We could picture a boy shaking uncontrollably in a seizure or a boy who wouldn't be able to get a job because nobody would hire him once he became an adult:  he'd live out the rest of his days at home as a recluse, friendless, alone, depressed.  It was awful!

Yet the doctors gave us hope:  they said that there were medications on the market that could control the seizures, or if not, at least, keep them to a minimum.  He could work once the medications took effect and once the side effects could be curtailed.  He could have a very happy, normal life and live it out as any other child.

It's been 11 years since that fateful diagnosis, and while he has experienced some seizure-related episodes in the past that required a trip in an ambulance to the hospital, he has otherwise done whatever he wanted (excepting for contact sports, of course, as any blow to the head could make his epilepsy worse).

Nothing has really stopped Jeremy Micah.

We have tried to treat him like a normal child all these years.  It's worked wonders (for the most part, excepting for when he springs one of his attitudes).  We don't let him get away with anything just because he has a condition that could seriously curtail his life if we let it. 

Now if we could only do the same with Colby Shane, his younger brother, who, at the age of nine, is a walking accident-waiting-to-happen ...