Have you ever walked a civil war battlefield at night? If you haven't had the chance, I highly recommend it, as its not only a spiritual experience, but a way to remember the bloodshed that occurred 150 some years ago in the USA. This is just mere seconds in time ago, when compared to human history, and right now there is a child that is having hundreds of seizures today. In those days, survival rates for extreme cases of epilepsy weren't very good. All you have to know this is true, is to have seen the doctors equipment at the former Walter Reed Medical Center basement, or watch a movie such as "Dances with Wolves." Will this child die? Perhaps. Yet with medicines and diet plans such as the Ketogenic and others, the likelihood is less.
I'm happy this is the case. As a parent who lost a child to seizures, I do not want another parent to go down that road, with all of the pain associated with such a grave tragedy. Whole families have witnessed this pain, and been torn apart in so many ways, due to the horror experienced. Thousands of people die every year, across the United States and the rest of the world from seizures. There are 50,000+ deaths caused by seizures in the U.S. alone on an annual basis. If you think Civil War battles such as Antietam and Shiloh were deadly, you are correct. Here at the latter, this pivotal moment in history, General William Tecumseh Sherman approached General Ulysses S. Grant. His words were, "Well Grant, we've had the devils own day." Grant released smoke from his mouth, as he was smoking one of his cigars, and said " Yes, lick em' tomorrow though."
That's what we have to do with seizures. General Grant was correct, as we have had so many of our children, friends, and other loved ones died to them. Yet we must look forward, remembering our past, but fighting even harder together, never giving up for a moment. It would be easy to give up, and just say "its going to happen." Yes, there are going to be cases of that. However, we not only fail those who can be saved by adapting a losing approach, but so many family members, friends, and people who loved someone taken by this medical condition. So what do we do? First of all, we rally together by constantly applying pressure for government funding, as seizures deprive each person of the chance for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Also, we continue to work with private companies to develop research grants, and to support institutions that are working on this issue right now. There are countless ones, and with each day, more gains are coming. "Lick em tomorrow" indeed.
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