Hi, my name is Lauren Harding Smith.
So I was first diagnosed with generalized epilepsy
after I had a grand mal seizure on a family vacation to Park City, Utah.
When I was diagnosed, I found out that the reason I had my seizure was
because of the oxygen levels because we were at a higher elevation.
I'm a runner. I run for Hoover track and field, and cross country.
The fact that I had to do with oxygen was not good.
I was pretty upset. I couldn't run it first.
But after I got a few EEG's done,
my doctor said I could run as long as I didn't run alone.
And what it came down to was, if I quit, then I'd given up myself
because of something I can't control.
I love to run not just for physical health,
all my friends run, and it's just a way for me
to clear my head and be able to think.
It just really helps me be happy as well.
Hello, my name is Tim Ulmer and I have epilepsy.
It resulted is a head injury when I was a toddler.
It's been a factor in virtually every decision in my life. To pursuit of careers.
To marriage and fatherhood.
One day I had the change to teach English in China.
And it turned out to be the most wonderful experience that I've had in my life to that point.
I got to teach at several major universities.
And in doing so people got to see that epilepsy was not the contagious, vile,
and disgusting disease that many of them have been told that it was.
So I was really getting to be a goodwill ambassador on a mission.
It was absolutely wonderful.
Hi, my name is Liz. I live with epilepsy.
And if you have epilepsy, you know, we can have families.
You need to plan them with your doctor.
And you know, make sure everything is safe.
And you're on that the best medication for pregnancy.
You know my day to day life is like most people.
I take my son to daycare with my husband,
and I go to work for a full day.
The only things that I have to worry about is I have to manage my triggers.
So I kind of go to sleep earlier than most people.
I tried to stay healthy,
get some exercise, drink plenty of water.
And I also always take my medication on time.
I want everyone who lives with epilepsy
to keep striving for the best quality of life possible.
Find a good doctor.
Find a great care team and support system.
There's help out there. You just got to keep looking. So, thank you.
Hi, my name is Miles Levin. I'm 25 years old.
I live in Northern California, and I have epilepsy.
Epilepsy affects my life in a number of ways, many of them very positive.
Epilepsy has really brought out, and made use of some of my talents.
Like I really love public speaking.
And I've been able to find a way to make that useful to people, for example.
Or my filmmaking, which is a passion of mine.
Telling stories about a character with epilepsy really speaks to me.
And then that's something that makes my experience useful to other people.
So I'm really grateful for it in that sense.
Epilepsy stigma is really brutal.
I know lots of people with horror stories.
Being kicked out of their friend groups, being ignored by educational institutions.
kicked out of schools, kicked out of jobs. It's really pretty endless.
As a community what we really want is for people to just listen.
My name is Angelica Cerda. I'm from El Paso, Texas. I'm 33 years old.
I'm Spanish, Portuguese, British and Scottish.
And I am an epilepsy warrior.
I've had epilepsy since I was pretty much born.
I got diagnosed at the age of three months,
and I was given a very slim chance to even survive.
About three years ago. I survived 200 seizures in just six days.
I am in college. I am getting my bachelor's degree in
business administration with a minor in accounting.
I'm a plus size model in my city. I've been modeling now for 13 years.
Please don't let epilepsy be the end of you.
I may have epilepsy, but epilepsy doesn't have me.
Hello, my name is Ashley Flowers and I am an epilepsy warrior.
I was diagnosed at the age of 17. I am now 27, and
I've been five years seizure free.
It is such a blessing and I call myself an
epilepsy warrior because I believe that all of us are just that.
We are warriors. We are fighters we are survivors.
So in closing, happy Epilepsy Awareness Month!
Today is epilepsy day, today is epilepsy day, today is our epilepsy day!