Epilepsy Awareness Month

I've gone back and forth with how to approach Epilepsy Awareness Month. 

 I am extremely thankful to type these next few words...epilepsy is not in the forefront of our lives on a daily basis.  It is in our lives daily but not anywhere near where it once was.  We no longer measure out and administer medication multiple times a day, we no longer keep a daily log of seizures, we don't have EEGs or hospital stays on the horizon, the neuros office is not on speed dial...you get the point.  

It is in our lives on a daily basis as just a normal part of our day.  We know that each time Charlie Claire wakes up from sleeping she will more than likely have a seizure. We know that if she is getting sick she may have a few more than normal. Yesterday, shortly after waking I thought C may have been having a seizure.  I stopped what I was doing and looked at her and she looked at me and said "done" to which I replied "done with what?" and she said "seizure." It was hard for me to decide whether to laugh or cry in that moment...on one hand this is the first step in the process of Charlie being able to communicate what is going on and we are very grateful for that....on the other hand, our three year old knows the word seizure.  Bittersweet. 

There really isn't a moment of any day where we are not grateful that we don't eat, sleep and breath seizures the way we once did but that doesn't make us any less aware.  We are also aware that our stable situation isn't guaranteed and we don't take it for granted. 

We are also very aware of other families who fight the seizure fight day in and day out and their amazing kiddos who are way stronger than you or I could ever imagine. 

Please take a moment to know the facts and increase epilepsy awareness! We do it for this sweet little, who do you do it for?