Purple Day Awareness

Hello Everyone,

Today is Epilepsy Awareness day, also known as Purple day.

Purple Day is the day where we show support for Epilepsy, Surprisingly, this is one of the most underrated Awareness, it's little known to society, so I'm helping by spreading the Awareness on the internet.
So Let's get started, shall we?

What is Purple Day?

Purple Day is an event designed to raise awareness of Epilepsy. Beginning in 2008, people are encouraged to wear Purple coloured clothing on March 26. Purple and lavender are often associated with epilepsy, as for example in the wearing of a lavender ribbon, just like a Pink ribbon is for breast cancer.

Cassidy Megan created the idea of Purple Day in 2008, motivated by her own struggles with epilepsy. Cassidy's goal is to get people talking about epilepsy in an effort to dispel myths and inform those with seizures that they are not alone. The Epilepsy Association of Nova Scotia came on board in 2008 to help develop Cassidy's idea, which is now known as the Purple Day for Epilepsy campaign.

What is Epilepsy?

Epilepsy is a medical condition in which the person & the brain suffers/experience Seizures, convulsions, & blackouts *possibly memory loss*. This condition is not contagious, so it’s not spreadable, and there’s no way you can catch it when you’re around someone who does have epilepsy.
And Epilepsy isn't a psychological disorder either.

Also, Seizures is a sudden attack or convulsion, it’s a sudden onset of pain or emotion *in case you didn’t know*. And in which case, the seizure can trigger when the person is feeling stressed, or basically any emotions *even excitement/happiness* Anything could trigger the seizures really.

There are different types of Epilepsies, more than just one.
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To be honest, I never knew there was such a campaign for Epilepsy, I never knew about Cassidy's campaign & how it came to be, I just learned about this not too long ago. All I hear from left to right is Breast cancer, & so many events around it, but yet, there was nothing for Epilepsy Awareness, not until Cassidy made Epilepsy come into light & raised the awareness for it.

I'm sure some of you already know about my struggles with Epilepsy, but if you didn't know, and you're new to my page,
then Surprise!~

Heh yeah, it's sort of a long story with me & my struggles, but long story short, I've started experiencing Epilepsy during my Freshman year in High school, it was a mini episode with me almost everyday, whenever I have to use my brain for maths & such, my hands would just twitch a little, nothing serious, well that's what I thought at the time, I even thought it was a temporarily thing, but oh how wrong I was, I was even wrong for not telling my mother what's going on with me, heck I didn't even know what was wrong with me back then.

Anyways, little did I know that the mini episodes would gradually turn into Seizures, I've learned that the hard way by just going with my everyday life, not letting anyone know about what's going on with me, I've kept it to myself. Sophmore year went by smoothly, nothing serious happen, I would get twitches from here to there, but that's just about it.

Then during my junior year, that's when things start hitting the fan 
my most memorable Seizure moments was when I had to get up in front of the whole class to give a speech about Alcohol & how it could affect your life *Which that is one of my fears that I find hard to overcome*
Then during in the middle of the speech, as I was reading, I started gasping for air in between the words, & my eyes would roll in the back of my head as I was still standing, the whole class was Dead Silent by then, classmates would just stare at me with a concern, or question look on their eyes & faces, while my teacher on the other hand who was sitting in her desk area where she couldn't see what everyone else was seeing, she thought I was sobbing, cause that's what my gasps sounded like. I struggled & struggled trying to give out one speech, I couldn't even ask if I could be dismissed, I just stood there & finished my speech, then sat back down on my seat, without saying a word.

Then around the summer time, I finally decided to tell my mom, but just as I was trying to tell her, my eyes rolled up, & that's when she knew that there was something wrong with me, not exactly though, then she later set up appointments for me.
I had to go through a lot of tests, MRI, EEG, even getting my blood drawn multiple times, just to see how I'm doing with my medication.
Then Senior year wasn't such a blast either, my seizures had grown worse & out of control, my meds weren't working anymore as they did before, & I couldn't focus at all during class, I even had attacks in front of my friends, luckily they were there to escort me to the nurse's office, but as weeks passed, I had another attack which led me back into the nurse's office & ended up in a wheelchair.  
That's basically my Senior year, full of pressure, a lot of works & projects, & stress that leads me into the nurse's office more than once : /
A lot has happened during the summer, I had my first ride to the hospital in an ambulance, I had my meds upgraded into a larger & stronger pill, that was hard to swallow at first, & had to go through tests, which wasn't all that bad.
So there you have it, that's my story so far.
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There are downfalls to having Epilepsy/Seizures, coming from a person who has Epilepsy;

-You can't drive at all, there has to be someone there to drive for you.
-You can never Drink alcoholic beverages *Which I'm pretty alright with it* cause drinking will cause a seizure trigger for you.
-You can't live alone, not without anyone being there to watch over you & making sure you don't have an Episode or anything with serious injuries.
-Pregnancy-wise, Mostly Depending on how bad your condition is, you have to be bedridden, you cannot take your medication while being pregnant, that'll just harm the baby, especially while breast feeding it. You cannot give a normal childbirth.

-*Again, it mostly depends on which condition you're in* You often have to make doctor appointments, go through some tests, like MRI's, EEG's, and yep, even getting your blood tested.

-The medications that are prescribed for you from doctors, is something that you have to take everyday, for the rest of your life, or until the condition stopped entirely.

When experiencing with a seizure attack; If you don’t feel good, your head feels funny/weird, eye roll to the back to the head, lay on the floor, on your side, doesn’t matter where you are, because if you stand/sit/walk while you’re under attack, you could injure yourself & possibly hurt others as well. 

-Stay with that person. 

-Remain calm & protect that person from injury. 

-Loosen anything tight around the person’s neck.

-Most importantly, Stay calm!

What NOT to do when someone’s having a seizure;

-Do Not restrain that person.

-Do Not put anything in that person’s mouth