Supporting My Brother in His Epilepsy Diagnosis

In May of 2020, my brother hit his head on his door, and what we thought was a concussion led us to find out he has left temporal lobe epilepsy. He was 16 years old at the time. Every single day since then has been difficult, scary, sad, frustrating, and full of unknowns. My brother has had countless tests, including injecting radioactive matter to light his brain up, hoping to find the spot where his seizures start.

 
He is not allowed to drive. He went from being a straight-A student to struggling in school because he couldn't remember what he learned from day to day. He doesn't remember family vacations. A person's early developmental years are crucial and have been stripped away from him. Since my brother is so dependent on others, he is embarrassed and worried about what others will think. People can be so cruel when they learn he has epilepsy. He missed so many of his senior football and basketball games because he spent weeks undergoing extensive testing at the hospital, poked and hooked up to machines to find answers, hopefully.  

Through it all, my brother continues to fight and constantly puts his health first. I can't imagine what the drastic change felt like for him. He went from having no other care in the world like other teenagers to having his world flipped completely upside down in a split second.  

We can't imagine what this does to someone's mental health who's dealing with epilepsy. No matter how upset, mad, or scared I am for my brother, he feels it all and so much more. It's his life. We hope that one day the doctors will find a solution to help him become seizure-free, whether medication, brain surgery, a device implanted in his body to counteract the seizures, or all combined. 

If I could, I would take it all away from him in and take it all on if it meant he could normally live again and live his life as a kid should. I wouldn't wish spinal taps, getting poked in the side of the head, being hooked up to different machines, and spending weeks at hospitals scared for your life on anyone. I wish I could take away the worry about his life and what it means for the future if doctors cannot get his seizures under control.  

My brother is spending seven days at another hospital to undergo extensive testing in hopes we find answers and the next steps to take towards him being seizure-free.