Hiking with Epilepsy

I am an avid hiker, using much of my day finding a place to deal with a life of epilepsy.

When I was only 3 years old, I almost died from encephalitis that I got from a mosquito bite. It wasn’t until I was 12 that it came back as epilepsy. The years to follow were very challenging due to my dad ( that I was very close to) leaving.

The seizures began shortly after, with everything up to gran Mal seizures that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. All during high school, I found that the woods were my getaway. Being near people made me feel uneasy because anyone who saw me have a seizure would treat me like some kind of freak.

After high school, I ended up making my way across this beautiful country of ours, just to prove that even with epilepsy, I can do what many people wouldn’t dare. I ended up hitchhiking across the country 4 times before settling down. All that time, the neurologists kept trying new medication for my seizures to no avail. Even so, I did write my first book about my travels across the country, but because my seizures were affecting my concentration on the writing, it didn’t go far. But it was because I wrote it that got me to where I am today.

The neurologist I had in Connecticut kept pushing more and more medications to the point that I couldn’t concentrate and still had a couple days a month that were with seizures.

Back in 2012, after writing my book “Have Thumb, Will Travel”, I gave my neurologist a card to use for a free copy of my book. Two years later, he said he never got into reading my book, so I called him a Pharm-co Dr, using my as a lab-rat, and insisted that he refer me to a better Dr.

That got me to Yale University where I met an epileptologist for the first time. I couldn’t believe him when I said that they could make me seizure free! I was in shock! But to do that, I had to resign my job at the casino I was working at for 8 years, and try to get assistance from the state.

To cut through the chase, here I am in Colorado, 8 years later, and almost all I’ve been doing is Hiking, every day from 7- 10+ miles, while I celebrate the new life I’ve had being seizure free.

I can hike over 3,000 miles in a year, while keeping my health in check, and now I feel that it is time to tackle a feat that I always dreamed of, but could never expect to be able to do it without seizures.

The hikes I take now are what makes each day worth living. As I said on TV, ” They took out a small part of my brain (~6″ of gray matter), that had to be filled. So, I decided to fill it with what’s good for me.”

Now, the Appalachian Trail won’t be an easy task, but at the age of 66, and all the hiking I’ve been doing, I can do it. I even plan on taking on the Pacific Crest Trail following the AT.

As for the AT, I also chose to be a blogger on thetrek.co since that’s what I’ve been doing for the past years.

My reason for blogging is simple, like me. You see, the area that was removed was from the ‘language/ speech area ‘. That piece is gone now, but as I recover, I blog about my daily hikes to rebuild an area on the opposite side to improve my language. To me, it’s a ‘Win-Win ‘ deal! And hopefully after doing the AT, I’ll be hoping to write my second book in how I use epilepsy as a catalyst, pushing me over each mountain. Never Give Up!