Post by ranman on Sept 15, 2006 15:23:57 GMT -5
I also know what it's like to have to change careers due to a seizure condition. My name is Randy, Music runs in my family and starting from age 9, I was playing drums and guitar with proffesional bands. Up until age 21 (1979) I was a singer/songwriter, music teacher and a studio musician. My only dream in life was to make a good living with my music. (I also developed Ulcerative Colitis at the same time, the Docs. say the two are connected) Well, all that had to come to a stop. I was sitting at my desk at my P/T job when I had my first seizure. All I remember from that point on was waking up in the ambulance on the way to the hosp. After going through several tests and then seeing a neurologist, the tests showed that there was epileptic activity in my lower tempral lobe. He then persribed Dilantin and Pheonobarb (still on today) and the seizures were under control. I was even able to keep my drivers licence. One major problem though, the pills were severely messing up my co-ordination. I walked like a drunk, slurred my speech, my own family was embarassed to be seen with me. Since my co-ordination was so bad, I could no longer play guitar or drums and I had to give up teaching. I was so depressed, I could no longer fulfill my dream, now what was I going to do. I had to make a career change. I was putting in job applications all over but I had no other experience. Finally I got hired on by the Federal Government as a courier and mail clerk. I worked my way up to Administraion Manager for the Unemployment Insurance Office for 21 years and then 9 years with Veterans Affairs. My condition was getting worse with age, no seizures but the meds were blocking my learning ability so I couldn't take on extra duties. As a result of this, my employer(The Government of Canada) put me on Disability Insurance for 2 yrs. and then medical retirement .
I had to learn to live with my disability and work around it.
Randy