- Jul 23, 2019
- 2 min read

Episode 12: I Am a Runner

Today’s story comes from Amanda Plomb. Nowadays, Amanda defines herself as a runner, an athlete… and as an epileptic. But that wasn’t always the case.

For most people, the teenage years are a crucial period in finding out who we are. We try out lots of new things, we meet new people, we’re growing into new bodies and we’re starting to figure out the adult we will become. It is a period in our lives when we begin to define ourselves.

So it’s a horrible irony that the teenage years are also a time that a lot of people start experiencing seizures.

When Amanda started having seizures in her teens, it made her feel lost in her own body. Both the seizures and the medication she was prescribed to help stop them impacted on the activities that she enjoyed, and she hid her seizures from everyone, worried it would change what people thought of her. In the end, it was something unexpected that helped Amanda reconnect with her body, and redefine her sense of self.

Terminology:

Myoclonic seizures/jerks: partial seizures that cause isolated jerks or twitches, for example in the arms or legs
Juvenile Myoclonic Epilepsy of Janz: epilepsy with various seizures, including myoclonic, diagnosed before adulthood (read more)
Tonic clonic: a seizure with loss of consciousness and convulsions
Packed trail: maintained dirt path or trail, usually marked