Brain Health

Mel’s New Diet Lifestyle

April 4, 2018
I’ve always been self conscious about my weight. Especially the numbers on the scale! When I was in high school, I always wanted my body to be thin. I was about 125 pounds. Now being in my twenties, I wish I was my weight in high school. Lame. When I put on the “Freshmen 15” in college, I started signing up for these “fad diets”. I still do it now. I admit it. I’ve tried a lot of these diets that definitely did not work because of me (it might have worked if I finished them!). In the last 5 years, I’ve spent at least $2,000 on personal trainers, nutritionists, and those popular shakes. What is my problem? My problem is…
 
I have no self control and discipline. I need these to help me get to my goal of not only losing weight but feeling good. I have to WANT IT so bad that I don’t give up or cheat.
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Seizures & Epilepsy

Doctor Interviews

February 16, 2018
When I was first diagnosed with epilepsy, it was so hard for me to find a good doctor, especially when you don’t know anyone with seizures who can give you recommendations. I was interviewing a bunch of neurologists from San Diego and all the way up to Orange County.  My mom gets a recommendation from my Grandpa’s doctor. My Grandpa had lung cancer that spread to his brain. So that doctor recommended this new epilepsy doctor at the Hoag hospital. His name. Dr. David Millett. Apparently, he was was like an “epilepsy doctor celebrity”. That’s the best I can describe it.  When we met him on our first appointment he says “You don’t need to get another opinion”. Why does he need to convince us that we should trust him ? But whatever, I needed someone ASAP.
First we begin testing to see if we could find something that is causing my seizures. The MRIS, EEGS, PT/CAT Scan, etc.  There was nothing we can find. No groundbreaking results. So, the trial and error of medications began.

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Seizures & Epilepsy

Epilepsy Awareness Month 2017

November 3, 2017
November is Epilepsy Awareness month. So I’ve decided to do a challenge of something I am passionate about.  I’ve tried a million challenges and have always caved and gave up. Last month, my friend who is a song writer and musician completed a 30 day song challenge, writing and singing a song every day. It was so inspiring, check out his YouTube here ….Now it’s time to do something I am passionate about. My passion is to educate people about epilepsy.  So I’m taking action! I’m going to be creating videos talking abut epilepsy issues and pretty much anything that can increase awareness. There is a lot to talk about when it comes to seizures and there is a little bit of stigma about epilepsy that some people don’t know about. Epilepsy is NOT contagious and that’s just one of them. Seeing someone having a seizure is traumatizing and it’s embarrassing for the person having it. I definitely become self conscious and get embarrassed, that’s for sure..

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Seizures & Epilepsy

Simple/Complex Partial Seizures – WTH?

October 30, 2017

The more I learn about myself  and others in the epilepsy community groups, it is sometimes overwhelming to learn that:

1. there are so many  different types of seizures and 2. how it affects so many people’s lives.

On this, I am trying to talk about what epilepsy is about, what it does and how I can inspire people that have this condition to not be afraid to talk about it. So I want to remind you that while I am educating myself about epilepsy and doing things I can control, there are many other people that have different experiences and they also need your support. So be aware and research it yo self and contact me if you want to learn more of how you can help the cause!

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Seizures & Epilepsy

This Getting Ridiculous: I’ve had ENOUGH

June 21, 2017
I’ve been having one seizure a week since January. It’s getting so depressing. I don’t have nocturnal grand mal seizures anymore, those stopped in November (don’t jinx me). These complex partial seizures are on fire and are so weird. I feel it coming like “The Weeknd” says. And when they come, I have aurora/hallucinations, my lips start smacking on the left side of my face, and I drool… A LOT.
I don’t know what to do anymore. The doctor is testing Lamicdol 200mg extended release twice a day, Keppra 500mg at night and Vimpat 250 twice a day. I feel like my Grandma who has to take all these pills in the AM/PM in those large pill cases. My poor boyfriend who has to remind me to take my medications so he doesn’t have to witness a seizure. He is the best thing in my life, hopefully I don’t scare him away with all this Sh*T happening to me. Epilepsy sucks. People get so uncomfortable with Epileptics. Saying “I’m Epileptic” is hard. When I started this blog, I wanted to raise awareness so people know about this disorder. I also want to connect with other adults that have seizures. Do people who have seizures like being called Epileptics? So much to learn about this disorder. I want to continue to engage with the Epilepsy community to increase my knowledge and also learn from other adults experiences. But what I can do now with myself to fight this. I’m open to anything….just please no more medications.

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