Power Over Epilepsy by Lowell Evans

Coming up in life, I was always asked the same question as many people, I am sure. It was, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I always had an answer for the adult who asked me when I was a child, then as a teenager and high school student, the answer changed, but I still had an answer to give, and

people believed me.

I wanted to go into the banking industry because I was always a person who loved math. I worked in retail through my high school year at a supermarket as a cashier many times and was often asked to take the night deposit to the bank on my own. There were thousands of dollars I was responsible for taking from the supermarket to the bank’s night drop box. I was 19 years old at the time, and it made me feel

very important and most of all trusted by management.

Then there was a turn of events in my life. I was diagnosed with Epilepsy. I has one Tonic Clonic Seizure in 1980 and suddenly, people viewed me as a different person, and I did even stay in the hospital after the seizure took place. I was released to go back to college and my dorm room.

At this point, numerous individuals began to question me. They asked, “Are you going to quit college?” What are you going to do now that you have epilepsy? Do you think you will be able to continue to work? I could not believe what I was hearing! I was in shock because I was not even required to stay in

the hospital for any type of surgery or under any type of watch. I felt fine, but the same people that saw Lowell Evans 24 hours ago, now saw nothing but epilepsy, even though there was no more seizure activity. I was in a way “Labeled” for failure. This made me a weak individual at times.

I was very disappointed when I realized what I was hearing. The same people who saw me working, going to college, and trying to achieve the goals in life I had set no longer believed in me because of the epilepsy I was diagnosed with. I must be honest, that hurt me and made me feel like I was not equal to them. Soon I noticed that these “Friends” were not coming around like they use to and even some family member did not believe in me like they use to. This made me set new goals.

I was determined not to allow epilepsy to change or control my life. When I began to research why people thought I was now a different person, I found out that they had very little knowledge of the people in history who still accomplished great things in life.

Theodore Roosevelt, despite living with epilepsy, served as President of the United States. Danny Glover, an African American born with epilepsy and became a great actor. James Madison, the 4th U.S. President and “Father of the Constitution” suffered from what is called absence seizures or “petit mal” epilepsy. Florence Griffith-Joyner was a U.S. Olympic track star. Prince, one of the most talented musicians in history, was also a superstar who lived with epilepsy.

I discovered these historic facts, and it gave me Power Over Epilepsy! I then understood I had to educate myself and others about this. Then is when I ignored what was being said about me and later became a regional director for an epilepsy foundation to help others face the challenges I had faced within society

due to lack of knowledge of epilepsy.

I now have “Power Over Epilepsy!