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What's this website about?
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This website is about Glenda's journey. I'm Melody and Glenda is my sister, but not just any kind of sister. You see, we are twins and we've always been close.
Glenda was born with a funny little clot in the middle of her brain. It didn't cause any problems or do anything unusual until we were well into our 20's. She was a medical student at Michigan State University (MSU). I was also at MSU, pursuing a Computer Science degree. We were living in a little apartment just off campus...
One day, we are at the grocery store, getting some things and suddenly, she stops, holds my arm, and says 'I feel kind of funny....' Is that Funny as in Ha Ha or Funny as in Sick? Turns out, they are the start of epilepsy showing it's ugly self.
I don't think anything of it. Maybe it is indigestion. I tell her she must not be getting enough sleep or studying too much.
Fast forward several years later. Glenda is working as a family physician in Michigan and I am an engineer in Massachusetts. She starts to experience instances of time standing still for a few seconds. The seizures are beginning to steal a few more seconds away from her life each time they occur. She gets tested and discovers the truth - she has a pea-sized area in her brain that somehow is causing abnormal signals. But with medication, they are controlled and kept at bay.
Several years later, my sister is married with two children, a girl and a boy. I am also married and have a daughter. We live within a half hour drive of each other and spend many weekends together, in the mountains and beaches of New England. Life seems so complete to be near my twin sister.
That's when things start to get weird. She is having issues with her medication controlling her seizure levels and is suddenly asked to effectively leave her medical practice in Nashua, New Hampshire. Of course, this is devastating. All her life, she wants nothing more than to be a doctor and heal people. Babies, old people, all ages of people love her as a trusting, caring, competent physician. Patients cry when they are told she is leaving the practice.
Our two families decide to make a drastic move. We begin to make plans in the Summer of 2002 to relocate to Longmont, Colorado. In 5 short months, we find ourselves uprooted, in brand new neighborhoods, the kids in new schools, new jobs, new lives... new everything.
Well, now we only live a few blocks from each other. I'd love to say 'and they all lived happily ever after', and end the story there.
But, the truth is, the next major chapter of Glenda's life is about to begin. She's not been able to do the work she loves and has been taking handfuls of pills every day for the last 3 years in an attempt to control the seizures. Some days, she seems Ok, and other days, suffering from migraine headaches and nausea. Each day is unpredictable.
After much thought and anguish on her part, she's decided to have brain surgery for a chance at a normal life again. It is not a decision that comes lightly, for there are obvious risks.
That's what this website is about - Glenda's journey to reclaim her life from epilepsy.
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