Isabell Ryan

I’m taking part in Walk for Epilepsy because...

I want to bring more awareness to epilepsy and provide education on the lesser known aspects of the disorder aside from tonic clonic seizures. It can be very isolating and difficult to talk about when there is so little information and so much misinformation that it almost feels like no one believes that you struggle daily with this disorder unless they have seen you have a visible episode. It is important that there is more accessible information out there so more people are aware of how epilepsy impacts those diagnosed. 

I also want to raise money for research into more options for treatment. This year my epilepsy was deemed drug resistant after my four different medications failed to keep my seizures under control and was I considered for brain surgery, however after extended video EEG monitoring my seizures could not be localised to a specific part of my brain and was therefore referred for VNS (vagus nerve stimulation) surgery which I have now had placed. I hope that more people can have access to greater treatment options without having to wait years for these to be put into effect.