Epilepsy Case Study

Cora was two years old when she had her first seizure. As a mother, I was frantic and scared that my little girl was dying of causes I could not understand. After rushing her to the hospital, the doctors asked many questions about what happened. I told them exactly what I saw which I describes as, “My child was just watching a cartoon on TV. She began to throw a fit for no reason so I walked away as I always did. However, unlike normal she screamed louder and fell to the floor where she started to have small convulsions. I had one of her older siblings call the family doctor while I tried to figure out what was happening. The convulsions lasted less than a minute. Soon afterwards she clung onto me and fell asleep” (Jeanine Hansen, personal communication, October 13, 2012). The doctor left the room for a while after this discussion and returned with another doctor. That’s when I was told that my two-year-old daughter most likely had a seizure. The doctors then discussed with me that this may be a one-time thing and she may never have another one again. However, they also stated, that I need to watch Cora carefully to make sure that she does not have another one, which would then classify her as Epileptic. If that were the case, then there would have to be more discussion of possible medication and/or tests. At that moment, though, the doctor’s best advice was to go home and continue with normal routines (Freeman, 2002, 73-76).
I had begun to think that Cora was never going to have another seizure again since it had been two months since I had rushed her to the hospital. It was a beautiful day outside and I happened to have the day off at work. Cora and my niece were in the playroom, while my sister and I were in the kitchen making supper. When out of nowhere, I hear a high-pitched scream and a loud thud from up-stairs. By the time that I got to the room, which was about forty-five seconds, Cora was just laying on the ground looking up in exhaustion. This time I was