All About Feeling Weird by Rebecca K. Drnjevic Hi! My name is Zack. Meet my family. And this is my dog Dirky. And this is my friend Beau. He lives close by. Today we are playing outside. We will play at the park. And jump on the trampoline. Not so long ago, I could not jump on the trampoline. Sometimes when I was playing, I would feel "weird". I told my Mom about feeling weird. At first she did not understand, what I meant. So we went to see the Doctor. My Doctor said the reason I felt weird sometimes, is because I have epilepsy. He said that kids and grown-ups can have epilepsy. And some people with epilepsy have seizures. There are many different kinds of seizures. Some kinds of seizures can make people do different-looking things. Like a person might stop and stare for a little bit. Or maybe their arm might shake. And sometimes seizures can make you fall down, or get stiff. Or shake all over for a few seconds. I had the kind that makes you fall down. That is why I could not play outside. When you have epilepsy, you can't stop a seizure when it wants to start. A seizure is like your tummy rumbling. Nobody can stop their tummy from making noise! I used to feel scared when I felt weird, because I did not know what was going on. But not anymore. The Doctor and my Mom told me all about seizures. If you have epilepsy, you should find as much out about seizures, as you can. Then you won't be scared. And you can tell other people about them too, so they won't be scared. This is what the Doctor told us about epilepsy. He said that epilepsy starts in your brain. Our brains are the bosses of our whole body! They tell our bodies what to do, and when to do it. Inside of our brains, are millions of tiny brain cells. When you want to do something, like throw a ball, the brain cells send a message to your arm. And then your hand throws the ball! Our brains are always working without us even thinking about it. Even when we are asleep! But if you have epilepsy like me, our brain cells sometimes send a mixed-up message. And that is what starts a seizure. When our bodies get the mixed-up message. They don't last long. And that is what I meant when I told my Mom I was feeling weird. Then the seizure is over, and our brains go back to work the way they are supposed to. After the Doctor told us all about epilepsy, he gave me some medicine to take. I have to take the medicine every day, to help stop the seizures. The pills aren't even hard to take, because I can chew them right up. They don't taste bad either! And I haven't had a seizure in a very long time. And some day the Doctor said that I might out grow the seizures! The only part that I don't like is when the Doctor has to take a little blood from my arm. He doesn't have to do it very often. It only hurts for just a minute. And I am getting more used to it. He has to do this, to find out how much medicine is in my body. If you ever feel weird, tell your Mom or Dad and they can take you to see the Doctor, like I did. And he can help you like my Doctor helped me. I am not scared anymore, and neither is my Sister. And I can do all the things I did before. Like play outside, go to school, and jump on the trampoline! Now let's go play! -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- * Medical information acquired from The Epilepsy Foundation of America, and Dr.Ethan B. Russo, Childhood Neurology.* More about Rebecca Drnjevic  

Copywright-Rebecca K. Drnjevic, 2002