Why Our Family?
Each year in the United States, 45,000 children under 15 develop epilepsy. It is slightly more common among boys, within disadvantaged (poor) communities and in children with a family history of the condition. However, epilepsy affects people from all communities, most of whom do not have any relatives with a history of seizures. In most people, no cause can be found. Among the rest, the cause can be a number of things that can affect how the brain works, such as head injury, lack of oxygen during birth, brain tumor, or infections like meningitis or encephalitis.
Knowing that any child can get epilepsy does not make it easier to accept that your child has been diagnosed with it. Having epilepsy often creates many challenges. It’s normal to ask "why us?" Learning that you’re not alone, how others felt when their children were diagnosed, and, most importantly, how they are successfully living with epilepsy can help.
You can talk online with other parents in our Parents Helping Parents eCommunity, where parents exchange strategies, voice frustrations and offer information on a wide range of medical, social and childcare issues. If you’d like to get in touch with parents in your community, contact your local Epilepsy Foundation for information about programs and services.
Hundreds of people have shared their stories through the Epilepsy Foundation’s Heroes Among Us program and its EpilepsyUSA magazine. "It Really Does Take a Village" is an article from the magazine about two families who found essential strength and support through their involvement with other parents and organizations. In it, Nancy Monica recalls how the first thing she needed as a parent of a newly diagnosed child was "some little piece of hope to hang onto - that there was a possibility that my daughter was going to be OK." She found that and much more, saying that ”...I am the luckiest mom in the world because to our whole family she is like the glue that holds us together.”
An epilepsy diagnosis is a frightening, unwelcome interruption in any family’s life. But with education, support and courage, parents can ensure that their children have happy, fulfilling and as normal lives as possible.
