Living Well With Epilepsy

Candlelight Concert for Epilepsy

2012-02-19T13:10:00.000-05:00

Eric Miller's wife, Carolina, was 25 years old when she passed away in August 2011 as a result of SUDEP. Since her passing last summer, Eric has been working on The Candlelight Concert for Epilepsy, which will honor those that have been lost to SUDEP and those that continue the daily struggle with epilepsy. The Concert The Candlelight Concert for Epilepsy Awareness will be held on March 24,

Video chat with Epilepsy bloggers

2012-02-02T13:30:00.000-05:00

This week Living Well With Epilepsy hosted a Google+ Hangout with some amazing people. The video chat gave me the chance to talk face-to-face with other folks actively involved in getting the word out about epilepsy. From across the country The group consisted of bloggers, artists, people with epilepsy, parents, writers, videographers, and photographers. The conversation was made even more

Living Well donates commission to CURE and Epilepsy Foundation

2012-01-09T18:30:00.000-05:00

There was excitement as we opened our first commission check for just over $30 at the end of the year. Thanks to your purchases through the Living Well Gear Shop, we were able to make our first contributions to both CURE and the Epilepsy Foundation of America. To kick off 2012, contributions were made using the money earned via the Living Well Gear Shop. I've made a $25 contribution CURE to

It's time for the Shorty Awards again.

2012-01-05T12:00:00.000-05:00

If you are on twitter and are looking for a way to speak out for a cure, here's a quick and easy way. Tweet a nomination for a Shorty Award. How does it work? Nominations are made by sending a tweet, whether it's through the Shorty Award site or on Twitter. To Nominate Living Well you can use ANY of the sample tweets below: I nominate @jessicaksmith for a Shorty Award in #health because of

Best news on epilepsy from 2011

2012-01-01T16:15:00.000-05:00

There were some great stories on epilepsy that we shouldn't forget before running headlong into 2012. These include a major genetic discovery, the surprise that Emily Dickinson had epilepsy, J&J's decision to leave smelly meds on the their production line, and evidence that UCB wants to hear from people with epilepsy. Research Discovery This year a story ran in the Journal of Human

Epilepsy 101

2011-12-18T10:10:00.000-05:00

When people don't have the basic facts that's when myths tend to fill in the blanks. So here is epilepsy in a nutshell: What is Epilepsy? Epilepsy is a chronic neurologic disorder with many possible causes. Anything that disturbs the normal pattern of neuron activity - from illness to brain damage to abnormal brain development - that can lead to seizures. What is a seizure? Seizures can

Thanks for adding the Epilepsy Awareness button

2011-12-08T10:00:00.000-05:00

During November the following sites added the Epilepsy Awareness button to their site. Thanks for speaking out. Sites that Speak Out http://livingwithepilepsy.biz http://www.luvnlambertlife.com http://www.shakenbutnotbeaten.com/ https://www.facebook.com/InHeatTanning http://facebook.com/mamalue If you added the button and we didn't recognize your site. Comment below so we can thank

Living Well Ranked #3 on Best Blogs Site

2011-11-30T19:06:00.001-05:00

A site on Medical Billing and Coding recently decided to incorporate a page on the 35 Best Blogs for Epilepsy Support in honor of Epilepsy Awareness Month. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Living Well With Epilepsy is ranked #3 on their list! Check out the fantastic write up below: Living Well With Epilepsy: Jessica Keenan Smith packs Living Well With Epilepsy with a staggering array

GlamaLIFE promotes Epilepsy Awareness Month

2011-11-12T09:30:00.001-05:00

Heather Schuck is the CEO & Founder of GlamaLIFE Brands. When she's not designing hip baby clothes for Glamajama or hosting her mom adventure web series FitandFearLESS.tv, you can find her at glamalife.com dishing the dirt on the REAL life of mom entrepreneurs or tweeting @glamalife to her more than 27,000 followers. This month Heather has offered to feature a story on epilepsy awareness.

DisruptiveWomen.net promotes Epilepsy Awareness Month

2011-11-05T13:57:00.000-04:00

Glenna Crooks, Ph.D. Glenna Crooks, Ph.D., is founder and President of Strategic Health Policy International, Inc., and she solves some of the toughest health care problems of our times. She is strong and confident and has a presence like I've never seen. Promotion of Epilepsy Awareness Month Glenna offered to interview me about Epilepsy Awareness Month for her blog on DisruptiveWomen.net.

Gear up for Epilepsy Awareness Month.

2011-10-16T12:39:00.000-04:00

Living Well With Epilepsy has opened an online store just in time for Epilepsy Awareness Month with the help of Cafe Press. You can now purchase all your epilepsy awareness gear including shirts, mugs, stickers, bags and more. Currently there are two designs available with more to follow. A small percentage of the price of each product sold comes to Living Well. But 100% of the money we

I shouldn't get mad when I see pink ribbons

2011-10-08T22:12:00.000-04:00

I know I should be pleased that breast cancer awareness is so widespread. I know I should smile and be proud that this disease gets the attention it deserves. But I sit here knowing that the prevalence and mortality rates for epilepsy are the same as those of breast cancer. Yes, that's right I said prevalence AND mortality. We all know you can die from cancer but folks are just starting to

Coach Kill's seizure on the field: Would you know what to do?

2011-09-17T12:10:00.001-04:00

Charles Baus/Cal Sport Media During the Minnesota Golden Gophers' game against New Mexico State on September 10, the Gophers head coach Jerry Kill suffered a seizure on the sidelines. It has been made known that Kill has a history of seizures. The seizure he suffered on the field is categorized as a tonic clonic or grand mal seizure. What's a tonic clonic seizure A generalized tonic-clonic

Ready to go back to school with epilepsy?

2011-08-31T06:56:00.000-04:00

Heading back to school with epilepsy can be stressful. But there are now several resources available to parents and teachers that can help with the transition. Web resources There is a site called Epilepsyclassroom.com. It opens with a welcome from Greg Grunberg of Heroes, founder of the site TalkAboutIt.org. The site was designed by UCB and the Epilepsy Foundation with help from two experts,

Epilepsy and breast cancer have the same prevalence and mortality rate.

2011-08-21T19:28:00.000-04:00

In 2009 it was front page news that 45,000 people die each year, and according to the Huffington Post that's one death every 12 minutes. It also common knowledge that we need to cure breast cancer. In fact, The National Breast Cancer Foundation's mission is to save lives by increasing awareness of breast cancer through education and by providing mammograms for those in need. Why this

Are lawyer ads impacting compliance?

2011-08-06T11:31:00.000-04:00

A reader recently raised a topic as a comment that everyone should have a chance to weigh in on. The comment was made by Morgan on an earlier post titled Topomax recalled: Smells like teen spirit? Not so much. The comment read: I see a lot of those ads about lawyers basically telling people they should sue the companies that make anti-convulsants if they have undesired side effects or

Heated discussion about epilepsy advocacy on Bryan Farley's blog

2011-07-23T09:34:00.000-04:00

Bryan Farley is a wonderful photographer, fantastic writer and dedicated epilepsy advocate. Oh yeah, and he has epilepsy too. Bryan recently started blogging on the Epilepsy Foundation's ecommunities blog network site. Bryan recently posted a fantastic piece on the blog network. After reading the post and the exciting commentary that follows, I asked if he would give Living Well readers a sneak

Artist with epilepsy is making waves in the NYC art scene

2011-07-18T06:42:00.001-04:00

Cathy Hozack is one of my favorite artists, and it just so happens that she also has epilepsy. Cathy is showing her work for a limited time in New York City at the Denise Bibro Fine Art Gallery. Cathy has said, "I am an artist with too much electricity in my brain: I have epilepsy. In 2008, I had brain surgery to remove the focal point of my seizures. Since then, my memory has been

Radio silence: a little explaination

2011-07-17T14:16:00.003-04:00

I wanted to take a minute to apologize for the radio silence you've had for the past two weeks, or so. Some of you know that this blog thing is not my full time gig. I have recently left a position as Interim Director of Stewardship at the Wharton School, and moved to a completely different organization to become the Director of Marketing and Special Events. No worries though, I expect that I

Living Well with VNS: An indepth look

2011-07-04T14:05:00.000-04:00

In the Living Well Reader Survey, you asked for information on the Vagus Nerve Stimulator (VNS). Well you are in luck! Meghan O'Neil, who has used the device to treat her epilepsy since 2008, has agreed to talk to Living Well about her experience with VNS. What is VNS? According to Epilepsy.com, "VNS is designed to prevent seizures by sending regular, mild pulses of electrical energy to the

CURE unveils the 2011 Annual Video

2011-06-23T16:31:00.003-04:00

CURE, Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy, is a volunteer-based nonprofit organization dedicated to finding a cure for epilepsy by raising funds for research and increasing awareness of the prevalence and devastation of this disease. This year their 2011 awareness video was unveiled at their annual gala held in Chicago. Below you can view this touching video that shares the stories of

Living Well welcomes 5000th visitor and Klout goes beyond 50!

2011-06-15T17:58:00.004-04:00

Living Well With Epilepsy welcomes the site's 5000th unique visitor. That's upwards of 13,500 pageviews. It was only a few months ago that we welcomed our 1000th visitor. I hope you are enjoying the site and come back on a regular basis to participate in the conversation. As many of you who have heard from me directly know, feedback is welcome and encouraged. So, feel free to comment below and

Did you know epilepsy is as common and as deadly as breast cancer?

2011-06-11T10:04:00.000-04:00

A recent article on SheKnows shows the staggering impact epilepsy has and brings the numbers home with some frightening comparisons. Below is an excerpt from the article: The Epilepsy Foundation shows there are approximately 200,000 new cases of epilepsy and seizures diagnosed each year. According to Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the same number of breast cancer cases are diagnosed.

Check out the Epilepsy Blogger Directory

2011-06-02T17:00:00.001-04:00

Photo credit: Jack Delano, circa 1940 I have created an online directory of bloggers and websites that are dedicated to communicating information on epilepsy. I searched for something similar and came up empty. (hence the picture of the card catalog). So, I created my own using inlinks which will stay live on Living Well With Epilepsy on the page labeled Directory. Add your own site The tool