why?

After waking this morning Calvin and I were resting in bed together when he suddenly shrieked, stiffened and started to seize. I rolled him onto his side and could do nothing but watch for three long minutes as his lips and fingers turned blue. Only six days have passed since Calvin’s last seizure and just six since the one before.

Earlier, at 3:00 a.m., I knew something was amiss. Calvin had awakened, knelt in his crib and called for me with his usual “uh-uh” which I believe means “mama”. I got up and offered him some water—which he surprisingly refused—then laid him back down and covered him. This happened several times so I decided to change his diaper. I felt him trembling. Although Calvin wasn't "due" for a seizure we brought him into our bed and Michael went to sleep on the futon so everyone could try to get some shut-eye. Calvin was restless and awake for over an hour.

Going on two weeks now Calvin has had a stubborn cold. Illness and stress can lower his seizure threshold, so we weren’t surprised when he had the seizure twelve days ago. We didn’t expect, however, to see the one in the bath last week, nor the one this morning, particularly since we had recently increased his antiepileptic drug.

Each time Calvin has a seizure Michael and I ask ourselves why. Could the increase in medication have a paradoxical effect and actually cause more seizures? Was it something he ate? Was he sleep deprived, over-stressed or over-stimulated? Does he have an ear infection or pneumonia? Does he have a fever? Is the fact that he often doesn’t have a bowel movement the day before a seizure a cause, or an effect, of seizure activity? Was it because of the full moon?

Answer: no one really knows. All we can do is fine-tune, and limit, the contributing factors and hope to, one day, strike the perfect balance that will eliminate his seizures once and for all or—better yet— find a cure.

Please share Calvin’s Story with your friends, family and colleagues to help raise epilepsy awareness. Help us find a cure. It's not hard, just do it one story at a time.