Katherine – Interview 02
Katherine started having seizures at the age of 15 but was conclusively diagnosed with epilepsy at 20. She is on 20ml phenytoin three times and 5 ml Keppra (levetiracetam) twice a day. She has about one seizure a month.
Katherine is 22 and a part-time nursery nurse. Her seizures started at the age of 15; before this she had been getting severe headaches with sickness and also loosing sensation in her arm. Getting her diagnosis took a long time as the hospital lost her results.
Katherine feels a bit angry for the delay in diagnosis as she could have been on right medication a lot earlier. She was also told that she was ‘faking’ the seizures and that her seizures were psychological rather than physiological. Finally, at the age of 20, she got the conclusive diagnosis of temporal lobe epilepsy – which was a relief. Her epilepsy is thought to be caused either by a benign brain cyst, or by a fall just before she started having seizures. She is now on two medications which she takes in syrup form’ 20ml phenytoin three times, and 5 ml levetiracetam twice a day and has no side effects. She has about one seizure a month which she finds that very distressing. Over the years, Katherine has had to spend a lot of time in hospital which has made her worried and anxious.
Katherine says all along she’s wanted more information about her epilepsy, its causes and future options. She has done her own research in the library and on the Epilepsy Action website. Her family and friends have been very supportive, as well as her work place, where people have a good knowledge about epilepsy. Katherine worries though whether having epilepsy could affect her getting full-time employment. She doesn’t want to go clubbing at the moment as she has experienced seizures when going out. She was also upset when she had to stop horse-riding which she loved. She enjoys the cinema and swimming and says epilepsy hasn’t changed they way she sees herself.