Epilepsy: An Inevitable Thief.
Written by Desmond Makatu,
Your visits are unpredictable.
It’s like battling a ghost because you’re a disability that’s invisible.
A thief, whose attacks are inevitable and come like a thief at night,
You seize me day and night.
Your cruelty is not restricted to age or ethnic groups.
My life consists of time gaps.
Gaps, like mathematical discrete graphs.
Cracks, depicting a thin line between life and death,
Grace bridges the gaps and life prevails over death.
Seizures still haunt me like a demonic wrath.
Epilepsy, you are an inevitable thief.
Your bruises can last for a lifetime but attacks are brief.
Every seizure provides questions only God can answer.
My quest for answers seems like searching for a cure for Cancer.
Sometimes death seemed to be the answer but God thought otherwise.
Epilepsy shows no remorse, seizes even toddlers.
My first seizure shook me like multiple earthquakes followed by a pool of darkness.
I woke up confused and facial expressions of the crowd said a thousand words.
Migraines raided my head and exposed my mind to enormous pressure,
This manifests a baptism by a wrath of a seizure.
Epilepsy is a thief that victimizes physically and psychologically.
Like a Yoyo, you take me into a roller-coaster of emotions.
The aftermath of your theft are engraved in my mind as if they’re on stones.
What’s behind my “poker face” is devastating than the physical injuries seen by the crowd.
Sorry. I placed this as a text box for another post. When I was just out of pharmacy school in the early 80's in Portland Oregon we were going to a movie and a woman had a generalized seizure. What really struck me was that people just walked around her as she laid in the middle of the lobby. Being newly empowered as a pharmacist I stopped to help her up and tell her it was OK. It has always struck me that people could be so indifferent to this person.
Kevin: This is a very touching and poem describing one individual's struggle with epilepsy. I believe it paints quite a picture regarding the emotional struggle a patient can experience with this disease. The line where the author mentions thoughts of suicide is poignant because it shows how psychological hurt a person with epilepsy can be and yet not show it. In the future, if I am able to work in an environment that allows me to build a trusting relationship with patients, I will try to broach the issue of the psychological impact of epilepsy in hopes I can convince someone to seek the appropriate treatment if needed. Dustin Jones
Hi Kevin, Thank you for sharing this poem for it describes the struggles epilepsy sufferers have to endure. I especially like it because it describes this struggles from the perspective of the epilepsy sufferer himself, things that bystanders or even loved ones might not see nor comprehend. His description of a seizure as an unpredictable visitor that can seize you day or night really drives the point home that as an epileptic you normally can not prepare for a seizure because it can come at any time.
I agree with you that people should show more empathy towards people having a seizure by approaching them because epilepsy in not contagious and just reassure them that all will be well. In my first year working as a pharmacist a mother's 4 year old child had a generalized clonic tonic seizure for the first time in our pharmacy waiting area and till this day I can still hear that mother's scream and desperation as she watched her son seizing. I as the pharmacist had to stay with the child until the paramedics arrived.
Ifeyinwa Okeke
Hey Ifeyinwa, I can imagine you seeing the mother crying could not have been ease and managing that situation so fresh out of school would be a challenge for experienced pharmacists working for year. I commend you for being a source of stability in that situation and I know that mother will always be greatful to you for it! I feel your story stresses the role that pharmacist play day in and day out at the front lines of healthcare due to our accessibility to the public. Knowledge is a valuable resource and having the training to know what to do from a first aid perspective is so important for those rare scenarios. Great job! (SUBIR MANN)
Wow, what an incredible poem. Ruth Nemire