Taking Epilepsy Seriously -Anthony Thanasayan
- Details
- Created on Thursday, 05 February 2015 07:00
- Published Date
- Written by Anthony Thanasayan
- Category: Columnist
ANYONE who knows Serene Low cannot help but admire her.
And there are great reasons for this.
The fifty-something, happily married, lives in Bangsar, Kuala Lumpur with her husband and son who is almost in his thirties.
She is the world's best mum and wife to them.
However, there is something even more special about Serene.
She is one of the best-known advocates of epilepsy awareness in the country.
In fact, that's not all.
Serene herself is also a person with epilepsy (PwE).
And this is probably why many who don't
know about the disease - and wish to understand it more - come to her
for advice and guidance.
It is also why she is so passionate about raising awareness of the condition in society.
Epilepsy is a neurological disorder which causes seizures.
Medical experts say epileptic seizures
are the result of over-activity of the brain cells, which in turn
produces a surge of electricity.
These seizures can be triggered by brain
damage from injuries sustained at birth. They can happen through head
injuries, stroke, brain tumours - and even because of alcoholism.
However, in many instances, the cause of epileptic seizures remains a mystery.
Serene is the sixth child in a family of eight.
With so many children to look after, her
family didn't zero in immediately on a fever the young Serene had
developed until it was too late.
It was when her parents saw her convulsions that they realised something was terribly wrong. They rushed Serene to a hospital.
A few days later, the doctors confirmed that she had epilepsy.
From then on, Serene experienced convulsions each time she had a fever.
Fortunately, the epileptic attacks ceased once she started attending school. It did not occur for years thereafter.
But the nightmare returned after Serene turned 18.
The first attack, when she was 18, could not have occurred in a more dangerous place and situation!
"I was swimming out at sea when everything suddenly went black," Serene recalled.
It happened during a family outing with some friends.
"Luckily, my brother's friend spotted me from a distance," she added. "My head was popping in and out of the water.
"By the time he rushed and swam out towards me, my face was already bluish purple."
Serene was rushed to the nearest clinic and given resuscitation.
It was after that incident that everyone got very serious about her condition - including Serene herself.
She started seeing a neurologist. He wasted no time in putting her onto the right kind of medication to control her seizures.
The drugs didn't totally prevent the epileptic attacks. But they did help greatly to reduce their frequency.
Serene has, to date, suffered more than a
hundred attacks. She says she has lost count of the exact number of
seizures she experienced.
"Those early days were the most difficult for me," she said.
"It's not that I was never given any medication then. I threw away my pills and never told my parents about it.
"I was just very confused and had become intensely bitter about my situation.
"I just couldn't accept what I was going
through when everyone else, especially my friends, were leading happy
lives. I felt that my very world was crumbling before me."
Serene recollected that one of the
hardest things about being an epileptic was having sudden attacks while
being with friends and colleagues.
The episodes were rather scary - especially when people didn't know what to do with a person having an epileptic attack.
Some of her friends would place a spoon,
a T-shirt or even a towel in her mouth in an attempt to prevent her
from accidentally biting her tongue during the seizures.
"But they didn't know that it was a dangerous thing to do as it could block my air passageway and choke me.
"The best thing to do is to leave the
person alone and allow the
seizure to take its course. In addition, it
is good to put away any object that might obstruct or injure the
affected person during the epileptic attack.
"Also, turning a person who is having a
seizure onto his side will help ensure that his air passageway is clear -
instead of his lying on his back, where his tongue can roll backwards
and choke him."
The first-ever International Epilepsy Day will be observed next Monday.
Serene is a member of the Malaysian
Society of Epilepsy. She headed the first epilepsy support group in the
year 2000 and served in that capacity for five years.
She enjoys writing articles, poems and
quotes. In one of her articles, she wrote: "Epilepsy does not make me
different from others; rather, it is how differently others choose to
see me."
Serene can be contacted on her Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/serene.low.104?fref=ts
Serene also tweets under "@serenelow"
The aNt
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