I have this idea that I want to inspire other epileptics to greatness and conquering the illness. However, I'm quite the introvert and quite a private person. I'm determined to become more outgoing and productive both in my business and in my personal life. But there is a fear of judgment. I'm a little timid about sharing my story with thousands of people. I created a video to introduce this blog, but I noticed a hole in my shirt and think I'll redo the video in a nicer shirt tomorrow.
The other problem with documenting my experience is that it takes time and dedication. Blogging daily is not an easy thing to do. You have to come up with something interesting to share. Let's face it, for anyone who has tried losing weight, there are many bland, boring points before you see results. I'm trying to get healthy and I can forsee the results taking six months or more. Heck, I've been trying to identify my seizure triggers for the past few years. I've held off on blogging because the things that I tried weren't the cure to my seizures. I didn't want to be recommending something to someone when it didn't necessarily work for me. GAPS diet, Modified Atkins diet, Raw foods diets, acupuncture and chiropractic all made me healthier, but none cured my epilepsy. Sometimes I would have a treatment and have a seizure that day. That made it easy to realize it wasn't the answer.
I'm optimistic and hoping that sharing my story will increase my dedication and improve my results. I've stumbled upon a website that attributes the cause of seizures to hyperventilation. This makes so much sense to me because the doctors would always have me hyperventilate during EEGs to lower my seizure threshold. Of course, they didn't show me the EEG results and tell me that the hyperventilation increased my seizure chances. They told me that the EEGs were normal for someone with epilepsy. Very vague explanation if you ask me. I'm optimistic that eliminating my hyperventilation will eliminate my seizures.
Finally, I'm also sharing my experiences with the outside implications of seizures. This means everything that goes along with them. I've been discriminated against. I've lost jobs. I haven't been able to find work. I've struggled with health insurance and doctors. There are many other things that people with a seizure disorder must deal with that other people simply don't understand. Some of those things, I'd like to forget, but some of them shaped me into who I am. There are other people with epilepsy out there who would probably appreciate knowing that someone else has gone through similar experiences. I do realize that I am opening myself up to criticism and a lot of unsolicited advice, for better or worse.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Telling My Story
As difficult as it is, I have decided to embrace the idea of sharing my story online in order to help my business succeed. Rob Deigh, of Rob Deigh Communications, a public relations company explained that getting into the media helps your company. Right now, my tiny little billing company could use help. I barely have one customer and it isn't enough to get me financially stable. I also have a sales rep who is struggling to make her first sale. It is tricky to ask doctors to change their ways and outsource their billing. I'm impressed by how many appointments my sales rep is actually getting.
This week, I did work on my business. I scheduled a meeting with a financial planner. Financial planners deal with finances and some of them may even have doctors as clients. A referral from a financial planner goes a long way towards closing business. We are meeting next week. Another financial planner/networking guru contacted me and told me that he was going to connect me to some of his doctor friends. That would be fantastic. I'm going to his mind connections networking group on Monday night. I also learned that Bonnie is sending out the cards to doctors and not the postcards. She finds more success doing that, so I changed my send out cards plan to send out three cards a week likes she is doing.
I am toying with the idea of starting my own networking group in Oakton at a time more convenient to my schedule. A lot of these networking groups are located too far for someone who travels by bus. I'm on the outskirts of the suburbs where buses run, but not frequently. It is frustrating to just miss a bus and wait 30 minutes for the next one. My networking group would have to be unique. I'm thinking about incorporating some physical activity and cutting out some of this overeating. As much as I love eating out, I'm getting tired of doing so much of it just to network with other people.
This week, I did work on my business. I scheduled a meeting with a financial planner. Financial planners deal with finances and some of them may even have doctors as clients. A referral from a financial planner goes a long way towards closing business. We are meeting next week. Another financial planner/networking guru contacted me and told me that he was going to connect me to some of his doctor friends. That would be fantastic. I'm going to his mind connections networking group on Monday night. I also learned that Bonnie is sending out the cards to doctors and not the postcards. She finds more success doing that, so I changed my send out cards plan to send out three cards a week likes she is doing.
I am toying with the idea of starting my own networking group in Oakton at a time more convenient to my schedule. A lot of these networking groups are located too far for someone who travels by bus. I'm on the outskirts of the suburbs where buses run, but not frequently. It is frustrating to just miss a bus and wait 30 minutes for the next one. My networking group would have to be unique. I'm thinking about incorporating some physical activity and cutting out some of this overeating. As much as I love eating out, I'm getting tired of doing so much of it just to network with other people.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
My Routines Thus Far
I'm sure everyone is wondering, well how are you doing coming off those seizure medications? Well, I stopped taking the keppra on Tuesday morning. I forgot my pill, but then I realized that I just need to implement the things on http://normalbreathing.com. While I am excited to do this, it is quite scary. I have been doing the breathing exercises for almost three months. I slowly lowered my seizure medication and while I did have a couple seizures, the intensity went down. I recovered after five minutes. The time also went down. The most recent ones were less than twenty seconds. My average seizure usually lasted one minue.
The amazing thing about allowing myself to come off medication is that I now have auras! I start to feel a little funny prior to the seizure. This is a nice warning to go lie down in a safe place. It also gave me an idea of my seizure pattern. I wasn't having daily seizures when I started having them. Increasing the dosage of medication every time that I had a seizure meant that I was very drugged up even on days that I wasn't likely to have a seizure. My doctor was really just guessing at the cause. I have noticed that sometimes I will feel an aura and slow my breathing down. The aura feeling will quickly go away as I slow down the breathing. I have noticed this twice.
I've decided to up my workouts to meet the amount of time needed to oxygenate my blood to match what a 40 second morning CP. That is two hours a day! A morning control pause is how long you can pause your breathing without any stress. I find it very difficult to measure this. I think that perhaps I am measuring it wrong. The Buteyko breathing exercises are something that I try to do, but since I feel like I'm doing them wrong, I ended up buying a BreathSlim breathing exercise device. I also purchased a convenient UltraBreathe device to carry with me in my purse and do whenever I have time. So far, I have worked up to an hour of breathing exercises with the device. It is very comfortable and I do them while watching television. I chose to do them first thing in the morning, since that is when seizures are most likely to occur due to heavy night breathing.
While it is my goal to get a 40 second morning CP, I may be about at 20 seconds at best. I have only been able to increase my workout hours to an hour and a half. I try to walk the dog for about half an hour and do a morning cardio workout at 6am with Gilad on Discovery Fit and Health. I used to be a huge Pilates fan, but I'm trying to maximize oxygenation and have switched to aerobics for that. It is ok. I can feel my lungs getting more powerful.
The amazing thing about allowing myself to come off medication is that I now have auras! I start to feel a little funny prior to the seizure. This is a nice warning to go lie down in a safe place. It also gave me an idea of my seizure pattern. I wasn't having daily seizures when I started having them. Increasing the dosage of medication every time that I had a seizure meant that I was very drugged up even on days that I wasn't likely to have a seizure. My doctor was really just guessing at the cause. I have noticed that sometimes I will feel an aura and slow my breathing down. The aura feeling will quickly go away as I slow down the breathing. I have noticed this twice.
I've decided to up my workouts to meet the amount of time needed to oxygenate my blood to match what a 40 second morning CP. That is two hours a day! A morning control pause is how long you can pause your breathing without any stress. I find it very difficult to measure this. I think that perhaps I am measuring it wrong. The Buteyko breathing exercises are something that I try to do, but since I feel like I'm doing them wrong, I ended up buying a BreathSlim breathing exercise device. I also purchased a convenient UltraBreathe device to carry with me in my purse and do whenever I have time. So far, I have worked up to an hour of breathing exercises with the device. It is very comfortable and I do them while watching television. I chose to do them first thing in the morning, since that is when seizures are most likely to occur due to heavy night breathing.
While it is my goal to get a 40 second morning CP, I may be about at 20 seconds at best. I have only been able to increase my workout hours to an hour and a half. I try to walk the dog for about half an hour and do a morning cardio workout at 6am with Gilad on Discovery Fit and Health. I used to be a huge Pilates fan, but I'm trying to maximize oxygenation and have switched to aerobics for that. It is ok. I can feel my lungs getting more powerful.
Thursday, February 14, 2013
Set Back
I went on a date last Friday night and got in a little late. I ate some weird terrible Thai food and didn't sleep well. Unfortunately, in the morning, I had a seizure. I'm pretty sad about it. It means that my driver's license won't be coming for another six months.
The good news is that I can now identify auras. With the low dose of medication, I actually have them and can get to a safe spot during the seizure. This helps tremendously. While I did bite my tongue, I didn't injure myself. I recovered really quickly too.
Having the seizure reinforced in me the determination to get my medical billing business going so that I can work from home. Ideally, I'm looking for small doctor's practices that haven't switched to an EMR, or ones that currently aren't happy with their electronic health records. I will switch them over to the Health Fusion's MediTouch system and save them money when they outsource their billing. This will enable me to earn a living from my home and not worry about having seizures on the job.
I am determined to beat epilepsy though. I still think that the breathing exercises are working. My seizures have been cut back from 1 minute seizures down to 15-20 seconds. That is a pretty big deal. I'm still doing the Breath Slim breathing exercises, but I've added in some aerobics too. I'm working up to two hours of physical activity per day. My birthday is in two weeks. I'm hoping to have increased my control pause to 40 seconds by my birthday. Right now, I'm hovering around 20 seconds. On the website, normalbreathing.com, they indicate that your seizures will go away at 40 seconds. The breathing exercises only get you so far. You need the aerobic exercises.
I'm also hoping that this will eliminate the inflammation in my body and my hair will grow back!
The good news is that I can now identify auras. With the low dose of medication, I actually have them and can get to a safe spot during the seizure. This helps tremendously. While I did bite my tongue, I didn't injure myself. I recovered really quickly too.
Having the seizure reinforced in me the determination to get my medical billing business going so that I can work from home. Ideally, I'm looking for small doctor's practices that haven't switched to an EMR, or ones that currently aren't happy with their electronic health records. I will switch them over to the Health Fusion's MediTouch system and save them money when they outsource their billing. This will enable me to earn a living from my home and not worry about having seizures on the job.
I am determined to beat epilepsy though. I still think that the breathing exercises are working. My seizures have been cut back from 1 minute seizures down to 15-20 seconds. That is a pretty big deal. I'm still doing the Breath Slim breathing exercises, but I've added in some aerobics too. I'm working up to two hours of physical activity per day. My birthday is in two weeks. I'm hoping to have increased my control pause to 40 seconds by my birthday. Right now, I'm hovering around 20 seconds. On the website, normalbreathing.com, they indicate that your seizures will go away at 40 seconds. The breathing exercises only get you so far. You need the aerobic exercises.
I'm also hoping that this will eliminate the inflammation in my body and my hair will grow back!
Sunday, January 13, 2013
Keep On Trucking
Alright, blogging every single day is difficult. It definitely helps you stay on track. Yesterday was Saturday and I was excited to hang out with my friend, Leah. We just caught up at Cafe Rio. Then we went shopping at Ross. I'm never thrilled by what I see at Ross. It isn't laid out very well, which is why the prices are lower, I guess.
I did exercise yesterday and today. Saturday, I did deep lunges, walked the dog and did Pilates. Today, I walked the dog and practiced some of the pole dancing "chair play" routine. Man, my legs are on fire now. I feel great about getting back into shape. I'm not going to weigh myself. I know my pants are still tight and I haven't gotten back to strictly eating healthy, whole foods. Hey, an eight month GAPS diet was hard. I'm just taking a break!
My hair isn't coming back yet. My nails seem to be getting a little stronger. I'm going to keep the BreathSlim exercises up twice a day. It feels better to breath with the diaphragm and I do think that it is helping my epilepsy.
How's the business? Yikes! I still hate networking, but I've requested more people on LinkedIn and even asked some medical professionals to meet with them. I'm posting a sales rep advertisement on Craigslist today. The webinars don't seem to be attracting people at the time that I am able to do them. I also don't think that I'm advertising them very well. I'd love to keep trying, but it is expensive to keep paying for the GoToWebinar service when only one or two people show up.
Unfortunately, my friend in Utah is thinking about keeping his business cash based. He may not become a client. That's ok, I guess. I need to keep talking to doctors in this area. Keep on networking. I'll eventually get there!
I did exercise yesterday and today. Saturday, I did deep lunges, walked the dog and did Pilates. Today, I walked the dog and practiced some of the pole dancing "chair play" routine. Man, my legs are on fire now. I feel great about getting back into shape. I'm not going to weigh myself. I know my pants are still tight and I haven't gotten back to strictly eating healthy, whole foods. Hey, an eight month GAPS diet was hard. I'm just taking a break!
My hair isn't coming back yet. My nails seem to be getting a little stronger. I'm going to keep the BreathSlim exercises up twice a day. It feels better to breath with the diaphragm and I do think that it is helping my epilepsy.
How's the business? Yikes! I still hate networking, but I've requested more people on LinkedIn and even asked some medical professionals to meet with them. I'm posting a sales rep advertisement on Craigslist today. The webinars don't seem to be attracting people at the time that I am able to do them. I also don't think that I'm advertising them very well. I'd love to keep trying, but it is expensive to keep paying for the GoToWebinar service when only one or two people show up.
Unfortunately, my friend in Utah is thinking about keeping his business cash based. He may not become a client. That's ok, I guess. I need to keep talking to doctors in this area. Keep on networking. I'll eventually get there!
Friday, January 11, 2013
More Progress towards being Terrific
Today is Friday. I usually I substitute teach on Friday. That is exactly what I did today. I also decided to try a sales rep for my business again. I'll put an ad on Craigslist tomorrow. See how that goes.
My health was addressed today as well. I walked the dog a mile. I did my Breath Slim exercises today twice. I also did a few Pilates exercises and some deep lunges and overhead lifts while I watched television. Always best to fit in exercises while you are wasting time watching tv.
The weight loss is not coming along so well. I'm still hovering at 146. However, after eating so strictly for eight months, I'm cheating and enjoying breads and fruits. Love it! I can do any diet strictly for a few months, but in the end, I break down and cheat. When I realized that my seizures weren't influenced by a strict whole foods diet or a raw foods diet or the modified Atkins diet, I eased up on my food choices. This may not be the case for everyone, but for me it was. Food was not my trigger.
I made an appointment with my neurologist! It isn't until March 27. I had to wait on the phone for what seemed like forever to get the appointment, but I have one. I plan on asking for an EEG to see what improvement has been made to my brain waves over four months of breathing exercises. Should be interesting!!
I need to focus on planning and networking. Tomorrow, my goal is to make three LinkedIn connections. I will also plan out my week and send out 5-10 introduction requests. Last time my introduction requests resulted in two people telling me they would introduce me. Neither did. I will follow up with those people tomorrow.
My health was addressed today as well. I walked the dog a mile. I did my Breath Slim exercises today twice. I also did a few Pilates exercises and some deep lunges and overhead lifts while I watched television. Always best to fit in exercises while you are wasting time watching tv.
The weight loss is not coming along so well. I'm still hovering at 146. However, after eating so strictly for eight months, I'm cheating and enjoying breads and fruits. Love it! I can do any diet strictly for a few months, but in the end, I break down and cheat. When I realized that my seizures weren't influenced by a strict whole foods diet or a raw foods diet or the modified Atkins diet, I eased up on my food choices. This may not be the case for everyone, but for me it was. Food was not my trigger.
I made an appointment with my neurologist! It isn't until March 27. I had to wait on the phone for what seemed like forever to get the appointment, but I have one. I plan on asking for an EEG to see what improvement has been made to my brain waves over four months of breathing exercises. Should be interesting!!
I need to focus on planning and networking. Tomorrow, my goal is to make three LinkedIn connections. I will also plan out my week and send out 5-10 introduction requests. Last time my introduction requests resulted in two people telling me they would introduce me. Neither did. I will follow up with those people tomorrow.
Thursday, January 10, 2013
Ack! Procrastination and Fear Strike Again
Ok. I went to my networking group, but a wave of fear hit me before breakfast. It wasn't an aura exactly. It was uneasiness. I sipped my tea and breathed slowly. After the meeting, I had a hard time focusing on networking. I'm not entirely certain why.
I basically procrastinated the rest of the day. I did make a phone call to a potential client, but they aren't even accepting insurance in their practice yet. Time to move on to the next practice. I'm not terribly discouraged. If they want to stay a cash-based practice, then they really don't need my services.
I networked today with my old gym teacher. I honestly don't think that he was my PE teacher, but he likes to claim I was his student. It was a big gym with lots of kids. I'm not sure that Kevin Ward will get any business out of him or if he'll even talk to Kevin.
I need to plan better. It gets difficult when I get scared about seizures. Seems like things tend to fall apart. But I'm not having them, so that is good.
I basically procrastinated the rest of the day. I did make a phone call to a potential client, but they aren't even accepting insurance in their practice yet. Time to move on to the next practice. I'm not terribly discouraged. If they want to stay a cash-based practice, then they really don't need my services.
I networked today with my old gym teacher. I honestly don't think that he was my PE teacher, but he likes to claim I was his student. It was a big gym with lots of kids. I'm not sure that Kevin Ward will get any business out of him or if he'll even talk to Kevin.
I need to plan better. It gets difficult when I get scared about seizures. Seems like things tend to fall apart. But I'm not having them, so that is good.
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