Hi may name is Laura Peddle, I grew up in Marystown on the Burin Peninsula of Newfoundland. I was diagnosed with Benign Rolandic Epilepsy of Childhood. Today it is known as Childhood Epilepsy with
Centrotemporal Spikes. This type of Epilepsy shows itself at the age 6 or 7 and most children by the time they reach puberty outgrow it. Thankfully for me, this was the case. My first major breakthrough was at the age of 6. It took place in my sleep during the early morning. Before my parents got me to the hospital I had already come out of it so we turned around and came home. We made an appointment with our doctor but he couldn’t tell what had happened so it went undiagnosed until the next seizure.
I was referred to the Janeway and Dr. Mike Hall . I was hospitalized with the second seizure for observation. Over the time frame of seven years I had four grand mal seizures all in my sleep. There were times when I had mini mal seizures – I would zone out for a few minutes just staring straight ahead and my face would twitch. My parents noticed this a few times when we were on the road, while I was sleeping. We learnt later that they were indeed mini mal seizures. I was treated by medication – Tegretol. I had to go three years without a seizure before I was weaned off the medication. At the age of 13 I was declared seizure free!
March 26th marks a day for me to celebrate and to be thankful for where I am in life now. I am so thankful to my parents and to the medical team that helped me through everything . I would like to see First aid programs available in the school system for children, teens and young adults to be able to take advantage of the proper training in what to do should they see a friend having a seizure.