November is Epilepsy Awareness Month....Will you Talk about it?

As some of you may know my son Austin was diagnosed on March 4th, 2004 with Epilepsy after he was found in the shower suffering from  Status Seizures, blue and barely breathing he was admitted to the ICU for 3 days, our families world was turned upside down.  Austin then suffered with uncontrollable seizures, we tried countless medications and after 7 years of seizures and countless hospital stays, more MRI's and EEG's than I could count Austin decided in December of last year to have a radical and risky surgery to remove the part of his brain where his seizures were coming from, after a total of 3 months in the hospital this year and a long painful recovery, I am over joyed that we are coming up on his 8 month anniversary of being seizure free!

I am passionate about spreading the word about Epilepsy and informing other families that are suffering with the awful disease, that's why I'm doing all I can for Epilepsy Awareness month.

So with your help we can kick these seizure's butt!!

Did you know that:

*Epilepsy affects over 3 million Americans of all ages – more than multiple sclerosis, cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy, and Parkinson’s disease combined. Almost 500 new cases of epilepsy are diagnosed every day in the United States. Epilepsy affects 50,000,000 people worldwide.

*It is estimated that up to 50,000 deaths occur annually in the U.S. from status epilepticus (prolonged seizures), Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP), and other seizure-related causes such as drowning and other accidents.

*Historically, epilepsy research has been under-funded. Federal dollars spent on research pale in comparison to those spent on other diseases, many of which affect fewer people than epilepsy.

*For many soldiers suffering traumatic brain injury on the battlefield, epilepsy will be a long-term consequence

We are doing two things,  first we are selling bracelets ( see below) to help spread the word and ask people to Talk about it all the money collected will be donated to Epilepsy research...with out education and awareness there can be no cure. Secondly we are collecting small new toys for the EMU~Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at Memorial Herman Hospital, while this hospital is the top in the nation the EMU has little funds, which is not unlike the funds for Epilepsy research. We will be collecting these toys to be donated on November 19th when I join another family at the EMU at Memorial Hermann to Talk about Epilepsy and to share our stories.

What toys we are collecting:
new hotwheel cars
new Barbies
new beanie babies or webkins/small stuffed animals
small infant toys

These toys are a tremendous help when children come into the EMU terrified and are asked to hold still while dozen of electrodes are being placed on their little heads this process can sometimes take over an hour and can be terrifying to a child and these items will help comfort them when they are frightened.

If you would like to buy a bracelet or you would like to help sell them contact me at kimmilburnphoto@aol.com or you can facebook or call/text me at 832-453-5670

You may also contact me if you would like to donate toys for the EMU.

Senior's if your club/school/church group would like to get involved please let me know, the more we talk about the faster we will find a cure :)

Thanks guys
Ms K