Doing Life in Lavender

Today marks the start of National Epilepsy Week and if you’ve been around this blog for a while you know I never miss an opportunity to use an epilepsy related holiday/event to talk about something important to me! I’ve recently realised how much seemingly random stuff in my bag is there because I have seizures. So this week I decided to go through some of the random stuff in my bag that I would not be carrying around if it weren’t for my epilepsy and hopefully explain how something that seems very simple can actually be quite important. The reason I carry around so much is because I want to be prepared for any eventuality regarding my seizures. And that covers quite a lot of ground, resulting in carrying around quite a lot of stuff! You may be aware of some mums and their superpower of having everything needed for any possible situation. At least mine always used to be on the ready with her (only slightly cooler looking) Mary Poppins bag! This week I’m talking about some of the stuf...

  Hello again and Happy Purple Day! Today is Epilepsy Awareness Day around the world (in Canada it’s even a national Holiday!) I always love Purple Day as it is a time to celebrate the people living with epilepsy daily and raise awareness for the condition that I’ve been living with for so long.   I’ve never known life without epilepsy but it’s so unknown, and yet it’s the fourth most common neurological condition, affecting between 50-60 million people globally. Because not many people know much about it, and it affects so many people, I like to use Purple Day to try and make some noise!   The past year has been a bit of a bonkers one for me, not because my epilepsy has changed all that much, but because of the way I have seen how much my epilepsy impacts everyday life. I started this blog this year focussing on my experiences living with epilepsy and it has forced me to sit down and reflect on things I’ve never really thought about before. Writing about my journey has...

Hello again! Once more I find myself in the position where life has taken over and I'm behind on my writing schedule! I hope to have something up soon though I won't promise next week as I want to take a fair amount of time planning and editing this next one.  Hopefully see you all soon!  Lots of love  💜💜💜

        Hello again! As the year ended and a new one began it seemed like a good time to reflect on what the last year has been like and what I want to accomplish in the one ahead.  2020 has been a crazy, ridiculous, stressful year. It has been a year of extremes for me. I've found incredible joys and yet I've also had to learn how to cope and manage with new difficulties.  Throughout 2020 I haven't had any improvements in my seizures although I am blessed that for the most part I am still able to do my job and am not limited in lots of the ways some people with epilepsy find a struggle. I had a major dip as a new medication made things worse than better, although my next appointment my consultant took me straight back off it again. During this period though, I had a seizure in front of a patient and while it was severe myoclonic rather than a full convulsive seizure, that was quite a difficult experience to come to grips with. I felt weak, or like I was ma...

Hello again! It's the last day of November! I don't have even a proper entry for my photo challenge today. It's a picture rather than a photo but I thought I'd take the opportunity on the last day of November to properly introduce you all to my new Instagram! And this is my new logo for it, created for me by Michael! (Thank you!) I've been blown away recently by the Purple community I have found on Instagram and thought that instead of my personal Instagram being a constant spam of blog updates I'd create a page specifically to give you blog updates, and where I can also give you updates on what is going on with my epilepsy, get a bit more real and go a bit more in-depth rather than sugar-coating it for social media. If that isn't what you want filling up your feed, that's fine. I get that. However, if you fancy blog updates and real-life epilepsy talk, please go follow Doing Life in Lavender on Instagram! 

  Hello again! This is a very recent photo that means a lot to me personally. This is the selfie I took just before pushing the button to publish my very first 2 blogs! This is something I would never have done if I had lived my life without epilepsy. I wouldn't have a lifetime of stories to tell! This blog has even just in the last few months been a really cathartic experience as I've been able to throw all my feelings on a page!  That's been really helpful for me and hearing people's responses to my stories has been unbelievably humbling and at times really moving. My epilepsy is something I have never struggled with sharing with people who needed to know around me, but I never dreamed of having the courage to share this part of my life with anyone in the world who happens upon it. It took me till I was about 16 or so when I started realising I wasn't the only person in the world with epilepsy, and raising awareness for epilepsy became something important to me. N...