My name is Rachel and I just wanted to share my epilepsy story for Brain Ablaze with the hopes that I could help others. I suffer from epilepsy, specifically JME (juvenile myoclonic epilepsy), and was diagnosed at age thirteen. Which for me resulted in loss of consciousness when I’d seize Read more…
Just when I thought life couldn’t get any harder, I became pregnant with my second child. This was not unplanned, mind you, and I was not upset. My first pregnancy had been very easy – one seizure in nine months, a slight uptick in meds, the labor was long, but Read more…
In this episode, we describe Responsive Neurostimulation for Seizures (or RNS) and the RNS System created by NeuroPace Inc. Mike McKenna from NeuroPace Inc. generously comes on the show to describe his own experience with The RNS System. Though RNS sounds a lot like VNS, the two technologies are quite Read more…
In this episode, Christin Godale comes on to the show to provide advice to families that include students looking to transition from high school to University. The transition from high school to university is hard on anyone that tries it. When one add Epilepsy or seizures the transition becomes even Read more…
We at Brain Ablaze are not medical professionals. Instead, we rely on Seizure First Aid information from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, or the CDC. Here’s an overview of what they have on their site, Seizure first aid is critically important because of just how often seizures occur. Read more…
This article was originally posted on Instagram. Thirty years ago, for Halloween 1990, I was a Dead Punk Bride. I wasn’t much of a drinker but that night I had two mixed drinks. The next morning I had my first seizure. I was 21 years old, barely an adult. Five Read more…
Have you ever asked, “When is the right time to tell a prospective employer about my Epilepsy?”. In this episode, our host, David Clifford, helps to answer that very question by telling the story of his worst technical interview experience. We know that covid-19 still ravishes economies around the world. Read more…
“Oh My Gosh, my life with Seizures has been a roller coaster!” If you haven’t heard this metaphor before, just wait a few months. I promise you, you will. via GIPHY For those that have made this comparison, I ask, “Have you ever seen a person come off a roller Read more…
In this episode, our host, David Clifford, transports us back to 1990 when at just fifteen years old he had his first seizure. Every story has a first, a first that is the beginning of everything. Supporting Epilepsy Research We have a new initiative here at Brain Ablaze. We’re trying Read more…
In this episode, we stare down the monster that has plagued our Epilepsy community for decades, SUDEP, or SUdden Death from EPilepsy. We present three tragic stories of SUDEP. In the United States, there are 55 (and 1 in the UK) thousand Epilepsy-related deaths in the United States each year. Read more…