Hi, I’m Addison Taylor and this is my epilepsy life story.

I have had both Absence Seizures and Grand Mal Seizures for 13 years,

When I was 7 years old and in the the 2nd grade I was playing with my friend in the rain one Thursday afternoon before my dad was going to take us to Yogurt Land I suddenly had a seizure.

My friend got scared from what she saw and cried and yelled for my dad from my playroom and he called an ambulance. I remember “waking up” seeing my dad but I could not see my friend. As I was leaning up against the couch, the only question I can remember the paramedics asking me was “are these your shoes?” and I said “yes?”.

Epilepsy sufferer Addison Taylor
epilepsy life story adisson taylor

The paramedics then put them on for me and I was taken into the ambulance. The next thing I remember was in the ambulance on the phone with my mom. I was terrified not knowing what was happening. My mom was talking to me on the phone until we arrived at the hospital.

The ambulance got to the hospital at the same time as my parents and my mother ran to me to see how I was doing while my dad parked the car. We all then went into the giraffe zoo themed room. The consultants asked me to have an EEG, CAT Scan, and of a course, blood sample.

After the tests, they moved me to a bland room and the consultant came in and told my parents that I was diagnosed with epilepsy.

For these past 13 years, we have never been able to put a finger on what triggers them. I had met with my first neurologist the next week. He seemed nice but we realized he wasn’t putting effort in so we went to another and she was very nice. She did the best she could but she said “this is all I can think of” and transferred me to my current doctor.

Since around 2015 I have done the MAD Diet which made me literally mad, it had given me a seizure every weekend for a month so we decided to cut it completely. MAD Diet was at the UCLA Health Center but UCLA tried to keep me on it (basically a guinea pig). Then I went and did the VNS Surgery which was fantastic. It has helped me in better ways than I thought. It has decreased them and on December 1, 2020, I was 1-year seizure-free.

My epilepsy life story - Addison Taylor
my epilepsy life story addison taylor

I am very blessed to have the support system I do ever since day one and believe that I have not lost from having seizures in my life. I do not let epilepsy define me nor will I and will go out my way to help and support those who are suffering from the condition or their families and raise the awareness of illness.

I do not let epilepsy define me. – Addison Taylor

Thank you for listening to my epilepsy life story.

– Addison Taylor

Addison Taylor is seizure-free thanks to VNS surgery