Epilepsy
I was reading the Game Cube insert for the new game the boys purchased today with Ryan's birthday money. It explained the risks of Epileptic seizures caused by the flashing lights of the game. The description brought back the memory of Eric when he would have what is termed absence seizures in which he would simply stop moving. What started out as infinitesimally brief pauses, which I attributed to being in thought and not responding, gradually grew to a minute long. I would look deep into his beautiful blue eyes and see the vacuousness combined with a slight twitch which characterizes epilepsy. To see the eyes of your child, bright with curiousity, budding knowledge and love go cold and empty gripped my heart. He would stop mid-sentence or mid-stride, his gait slowing quickly to a stop (he never fell) and he would be as a statue until the seizure was over. Homeschooling was incredibly difficult because he would have to re-read or listen to the same sentence several times in order to understand thanks to one or more seizures during that time. I would hold him tight and sometimes even cry until the seizure was over. It has been 2 1/2 years since he was diagnosed and today he is off his medication and seizure free. I pray I will never see that look in my son's eyes again and thankful that his epilepsy was successfully treated.