Thursdays 5:00pm - 6:00pm (EDT)
WHAT WILL THE AUDIENCE LEARN?
The Audience will hear from our special guest Suzanna Price author of her book Seized and Driven where she will describe how the impact of her car accident provided her with a new sense of passion and commitment to empathic and spiritual learning. She will discuss how her accident brought about epileptic seizures and a renewed sense of purpose. The audience will also learn about the traits that are useful in life that could be learned from Suzanna's example.
EPISODE SUMMARY:
Suzanna Price is an epilepsy warrior of two decades and a motivational speaker. She suffered a traumatic brain injury at age 19 and four years later began having uncontrollable seizures. In her honest and openhearted memoir, she battles her tough questions of life, heartache, and wondering whether she could settle into life with a long-term health condition.
God and herself, would be called into question as she battled hundreds of seizures, often in the worst possible settings. Suzanna slowly learned to let go of the things she most wanted, allowing her to embrace what mattered most.
Tune in for this healthy conversation at TalkRadio.nyc
00:00:43.000 --> 00:00:58.960 Frank R Harrison: hey, everybody, and welcome to a new episode of Frank about health. Thanks for staying tuned during the last 2 weeks while I was on hiatus, as you all recall from my last show, which was live from the New York Hilton, I was taking a hiatus to take care of a sick friend of mine out on the West coast.
00:00:58.960 --> 00:01:07.340 Frank R Harrison: who, i'm glad to say, is now recovering nicely after having surgery on a broken leg in 3 places, while also, being a diabetic, patient.
00:01:07.360 --> 00:01:13.350 Frank R Harrison: healing times on a diabetic patient, are much slower than they are on at individuals with
00:01:13.440 --> 00:01:30.390 Frank R Harrison: a normal metabolic system, but that, all being said while I did my advocacy, my dear friend, I wanted to come back and welcome all of you listeners and viewers out there to mental health awareness month, while also talking on this episode about neurodiversity
00:01:30.420 --> 00:01:44.720 Frank R Harrison: with me and my usual Co-host Danielle Swanson and Jeffrey demetrak as you know, we have had epilepsy shows since the beginning of the year, in lieu of preparing for our first ever epilepsy conference in the summer of 2,023
00:01:44.890 --> 00:01:46.300 Frank R Harrison: more on that later.
00:01:46.310 --> 00:01:49.850 Frank R Harrison: But our special guest today is Susannah Price.
00:01:50.350 --> 00:01:55.850 Frank R Harrison: author of the book, seized and driven who probably encompasses a combination
00:01:55.870 --> 00:02:06.730 Frank R Harrison: of our various epilepsy shows that we have had before. Thanks for the thanks for the plug. Don't. Forget your own book, too. But the thing is, is that in terms of
00:02:06.890 --> 00:02:24.870 Frank R Harrison: what we've uncovered over the last few months. We talked about alternative treatments. We've talked about post-traumatic epilepsy. We've also talked about the medicines and the kinds of invasive procedures to try to cure it. Also. I had the opportunity, this past weekend, to go to
00:02:24.900 --> 00:02:31.820 Frank R Harrison: the Annual and Nyu Langone faces Epilepsy Conference right here at the and Nyu Langone Medical Center.
00:02:31.850 --> 00:02:47.160 Frank R Harrison: or, as they call today, and Nyu Langone Health. and i'll give more on that later as well. But we want to feature Susanna because we want to hear about her story where she was in a car accident triggered by a seizure, or
00:02:47.540 --> 00:02:54.320 Frank R Harrison: was the result of seizure activity after the accident. More on that to that we will discover in the next hour.
00:02:54.470 --> 00:03:00.590 and at the same time we want to learn about how she was able to turn that into a blessing of sorts.
00:03:00.880 --> 00:03:05.740 Frank R Harrison: Now, before we open the discussion, I want to issue my disclaimer.
00:03:05.990 --> 00:03:21.140 Frank R Harrison: This is not information for any of you individuals out there suffering from seizure disorder, whether it's a comorbidity due to another illness, or whether it's because you have epilepsy to go ahead and take our information as food
00:03:21.140 --> 00:03:40.600 Frank R Harrison: to change your current treatment methodology that you might be undergoing with your neurologists, primary care, physician, or epileptologist. This is information for you to question as to what possibly may fit your case, what new solutions you can explore with your doctors. So we are providing you food for thought
00:03:40.600 --> 00:03:49.610 Frank R Harrison: and food for discussion over the next hour, so feel free to ask any questions to us. Live on our Youtube Channel as well as to just
00:03:50.120 --> 00:04:16.610 Frank R Harrison: here Susannah's interesting story, which I look forward to learning a lot more about myself, so that all being said. Thank you very much, all of you, especially you, Susanna, for being on this very mobile show. You know what I mean when I refer to that. But it's right here at the Nyu Langgo and health system, while at the same time all of us who suffer from, or who have lived with, epilepsy
00:04:16.610 --> 00:04:23.530 Frank R Harrison: during our lives, have different stories that we've already shared. But we now want to incorporate yours into
00:04:24.030 --> 00:04:25.950 Frank R Harrison: and to our story so welcome.
00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:32.320 Suzanna: Thank you. I really appreciate the opportunity to be here and to share and
00:04:32.330 --> 00:04:36.040 Suzanna: and talk, and hear a little bit more of
00:04:36.280 --> 00:04:43.540 Suzanna: each other's life, and all the pieces that have fallen together. When we, when we talk about
00:04:43.770 --> 00:04:46.570 Suzanna: so many similarities we have. So
00:04:46.990 --> 00:04:54.300 Frank R Harrison: yes, yes, I mean overall in getting a chance to read your book seized and driven.
00:04:54.310 --> 00:04:59.870 Frank R Harrison: I. Obviously we all know what the seas means, but driven. Sounds like You've been motivated.
00:05:00.180 --> 00:05:02.390 Frank R Harrison: You've been reached out to a mission
00:05:02.840 --> 00:05:19.700 Frank R Harrison: you've been really become not only an advocate like we all in our own ways have become. But you have an extra special message that we want to learn about. So I think it's on the spiritual realm. But I want you to be more specific, maybe by start.
00:05:19.850 --> 00:05:25.490 Frank R Harrison: first explaining when you were diagnosed, and then what outcomes you learned about yourself.
00:05:25.800 --> 00:05:26.820 Suzanna: sure.
00:05:27.580 --> 00:05:30.400 Frank R Harrison: So there's a backstory.
00:05:30.440 --> 00:05:32.650 Suzanna: and that is.
00:05:32.820 --> 00:05:39.680 Suzanna: when I was 19 I was in a Rollover and had a traumatic brain injury
00:05:40.330 --> 00:05:43.770 Suzanna: along with a lot of other injuries, that
00:05:43.780 --> 00:05:48.260 Suzanna: it really was amazing that I wasn't paralyzed because I had.
00:05:48.330 --> 00:05:51.150 Suzanna: I fractured C one
00:05:51.580 --> 00:05:55.020 Suzanna: and started convulsing.
00:05:55.540 --> 00:06:00.840 Suzanna: i'm out of control so badly that they had to put me in a medically induced coma.
00:06:01.340 --> 00:06:04.850 Suzanna: So that was the beginning.
00:06:05.720 --> 00:06:08.520 Suzanna: I was told I needed to take some
00:06:09.690 --> 00:06:13.230 Suzanna: anti-seizure medications for a few months.
00:06:13.560 --> 00:06:18.160 Suzanna: so I did. and figured I was free and clear
00:06:18.570 --> 00:06:26.190 Suzanna: after you know. I recovered and did all the Pt. And made my way back to
00:06:26.500 --> 00:06:27.770 Suzanna: you know, feeling.
00:06:28.310 --> 00:06:31.990 Suzanna: I guess, somewhat normal for lack of a better word
00:06:32.150 --> 00:06:35.010 Suzanna: and pretty much right.
00:06:35.020 --> 00:06:39.030 Suzanna: So pretty much figured. That was a fluke.
00:06:39.210 --> 00:06:40.840 Suzanna: and that
00:06:40.880 --> 00:06:44.450 Suzanna: would not be part of my life. And
00:06:44.570 --> 00:06:51.630 Suzanna: so 4 years after that I They've been having some strange
00:06:53.280 --> 00:06:55.570 Suzanna: episodes. I just felt
00:06:56.090 --> 00:06:57.110 Frank R Harrison: very.
00:06:58.100 --> 00:07:07.790 Suzanna: very odd, and I would feel and find myself spacing out, or and I couldn't talk. and but I didn't know how to
00:07:08.990 --> 00:07:16.650 Suzanna: define what that was even. I figured I didn't get enough sleep, or i'm just tired, or
00:07:16.740 --> 00:07:17.860 Suzanna: something
00:07:18.010 --> 00:07:20.390 Suzanna: of that sort. And then
00:07:20.770 --> 00:07:33.650 Suzanna: one day it happened. I collapsed, and I was working at a hospital at the time. So that was when I was transported right to the er and
00:07:33.710 --> 00:07:38.180 Suzanna: started a whole slew of tests, and based on the symptoms.
00:07:39.440 --> 00:07:44.590 Suzanna: I was diagnosed with epilepsy, and I just thought, this is not
00:07:45.290 --> 00:07:47.880 Suzanna: what's happening to me. I mean.
00:07:48.280 --> 00:07:50.580 Suzanna: I had all of these
00:07:50.700 --> 00:07:56.970 Suzanna: dreams and life goals, I mean I I was just getting my feet wet
00:07:57.030 --> 00:08:00.330 Suzanna: in the working world after college.
00:08:00.810 --> 00:08:02.270 Suzanna: My husband?
00:08:02.650 --> 00:08:08.210 Suzanna: Well, he was my fiance at the time we had just gotten engaged. It was, you know.
00:08:08.480 --> 00:08:10.460 Suzanna: all gonna be
00:08:10.630 --> 00:08:15.830 Suzanna: balloons and confetti and happy life, you know, and
00:08:15.970 --> 00:08:18.280 Suzanna: so kind of
00:08:18.410 --> 00:08:30.320 Suzanna: change things up in and brought me into a journey that I did not fathom would last this many years. But
00:08:30.990 --> 00:08:33.380 Suzanna: here I am. It's been 21 years
00:08:33.789 --> 00:08:42.370 Frank R Harrison: since the diagnosis. So that's interesting in all of those symptoms that you discussed. You were conscious at all times. Is that correct?
00:08:42.720 --> 00:08:44.350 Suzanna: Yes.
00:08:44.820 --> 00:08:48.240 Suzanna: but I would be. I would have a
00:08:48.930 --> 00:08:55.560 Suzanna: strange deja vu sensation that I later learned was very, very typical of
00:08:55.630 --> 00:08:59.860 Suzanna: my type of seizures. and then I would just zone out, and
00:09:00.540 --> 00:09:04.680 Suzanna: what we my husband said I would look like I.
00:09:04.860 --> 00:09:12.050 Suzanna: Maybe it was trying to talk, but I couldn't. and it wouldn't last long. But it was just enough time so
00:09:13.470 --> 00:09:20.720 Suzanna: to know that something was odd was happening, or and it was, but it was just as easy to say.
00:09:20.820 --> 00:09:25.730 Suzanna: Oh, that's nothing, and i'm fine, and I just, you know, need to
00:09:26.610 --> 00:09:28.390 Suzanna: go to bed early, and
00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:30.330 Suzanna: everything's fine, you know.
00:09:31.150 --> 00:09:36.550 Frank R Harrison: right right? But it sounds like absence seizures. I have you heard the term?
00:09:36.690 --> 00:09:38.790 Suzanna: Yes, yeah, definitely.
00:09:39.150 --> 00:09:40.220 Frank R Harrison: So
00:09:41.140 --> 00:09:48.530 Suzanna: that would that. That's accurate. And what I was told when I was diagnosed, too, was they classify them as
00:09:49.170 --> 00:09:52.860 Suzanna: simple partials and complex partials
00:09:53.470 --> 00:09:58.040 Suzanna: and refractory right right? And they told me
00:09:58.070 --> 00:10:01.480 Suzanna: that there was an area of scarring in
00:10:01.520 --> 00:10:04.770 Suzanna: the left, they told me, left temporal. Lo.
00:10:05.120 --> 00:10:05.930 Frank R Harrison: Yeah.
00:10:06.100 --> 00:10:12.700 Suzanna: yeah. And later down the line it would become more evident that it was deeper down
00:10:12.750 --> 00:10:14.630 Suzanna: more in the hippocampus. But
00:10:16.020 --> 00:10:17.420 Frank R Harrison: at any rate.
00:10:17.540 --> 00:10:18.330 yeah.
00:10:18.500 --> 00:10:29.520 Frank R Harrison: Well, your situation actually describes post-traumatic epilepsy. But at the same time you only had one grandma seizure correct
00:10:29.550 --> 00:10:31.180 Frank R Harrison: where you are unconscious.
00:10:31.230 --> 00:10:41.780 Frank R Harrison: only one that is interesting. I mean, that would to me, you know, having researched epilepsy, my whole life, basically especially here at the epilepsy center.
00:10:41.810 --> 00:10:44.630 What I discovered is that
00:10:44.820 --> 00:10:59.600 Frank R Harrison: it basically indicates that the temporal lobe which is responsible for memories, emotions, feelings, all of that stuff, especially if they're scarring, it creates different neural pathways, so that you have the effects
00:10:59.750 --> 00:11:02.080 which they label as epilepsy.
00:11:02.400 --> 00:11:12.990 Frank R Harrison: But they are an example of what we are calling the show neurodiversity. because in some cases depending on who your doctor is or was or could be.
00:11:13.040 --> 00:11:16.140 Frank R Harrison: they could have said you were possibly borderline autistic.
00:11:16.240 --> 00:11:20.900 Frank R Harrison: or they could have said you were just dealing with delayed, learned responses or
00:11:20.960 --> 00:11:38.870 Frank R Harrison: other kinds of you know what, so far as nomenclature or names that they could label. But of course, if they're coming to a quick treatment. so you can figure out how to move on with your life, your quality of life. They're going to say it's epilepsy, because they know how to manage that with medications and other kinds of issues.
00:11:38.930 --> 00:11:39.820 Frank R Harrison: Now.
00:11:40.100 --> 00:11:48.600 Frank R Harrison: well, let's take it. Also. It also sounds like the focus was very specific, and that's why you were a surgical candidate. Am I correct?
00:11:50.330 --> 00:11:52.890 Suzanna: True, although initially.
00:11:53.320 --> 00:11:57.480 Suzanna: I mean, it was many, many years before I would think about surgery.
00:11:57.870 --> 00:12:07.540 Suzanna: and for the first. for the first few years it was always all right. What medication can we throw at this next.
00:12:07.800 --> 00:12:11.930 Suzanna: and see and see what works or doesn't. So you
00:12:12.450 --> 00:12:14.090 Frank R Harrison: i'm sorry I don't mean
00:12:14.290 --> 00:12:23.370 Frank R Harrison: we're about to take our first break. Let's let's get back to the whole surgery question that you became a candidate for, and then we want to hear more about your book
00:12:23.430 --> 00:12:28.280 Frank R Harrison: in the next section. So, ladies and gentlemen, please stay tuned as we are here today.
00:12:28.310 --> 00:12:42.210 Frank R Harrison: with with Susannah Price to discuss, seized and driven show how her case of epilepsy is an example of neurodiversity, and in some cases can be used as a guiding light in terms of your personal or professional life.
00:12:42.240 --> 00:12:52.730 Frank R Harrison: And when we return, Jeff, go right for it. All right. Stay tuned right here on talk radio and Nyc and on our Youtube, Facebook, Linkedin and Twitter feeds.
00:12:52.790 --> 00:12:53.800 Frank R Harrison: Stay tuned.
00:12:56.560 --> 00:13:15.960 Are you a business owner? Do you want to be a business owner. Do you work with business owners? Hi! I'm. Steven, fry your small and medium-sized business, or Smb Guide, and i'm the host of the new show. Always Friday. While I love to have fun on my show, we take those Friday feelings of freedom and clarity to discuss popular topics on the minds of SMS today.
00:13:16.100 --> 00:13:22.320 Please join me and my various special guests on Friday at 11 am. On talk radio and Nyc
00:13:24.740 --> 00:13:55.070 Are you a conscious Co-creator, are you on a quest to raise your vibration and your consciousness? I'm. Sam. Liebo it's your conscious consultant, and on my show, the conscious consultant hour? Awakening humanity, we will touch upon all these topics and more. Listen. Live at our new time on Thursdays, at 12 noon, Eastern time. That's the conscious consultant hour awakening humanity. Thursday's 12 noon on talk Radio and Nyc.
00:14:00.300 --> 00:14:28.840 Are you on edge, hey? We live in challenging edgy time. So let's lean in. I'm Sander bargeman, the host of the edge of every day, which airs each Monday at 7 P. M. Eastern time on talk, radio and Nyc. Tune in Live with me and my friends and colleagues, as we share stories and perspectives about pushing boundaries and exploring our rough edges. That's the edge of every day. On Mondays at 7 P. M. Eastern time on top radio and Nyc
00:14:28.990 --> 00:14:29.890 pressure.
00:14:30.460 --> 00:14:31.590 www.TalkRadio.nyc: The
00:14:31.780 --> 00:14:37.280 you're listening to talk radio, Nyc: uplift, educate and power
00:14:38.430 --> 00:14:39.620 you
00:14:47.870 --> 00:14:48.860 the
00:15:06.830 --> 00:15:22.620 Frank R Harrison: welcome back. And so Jeff go right to it because we were trying to talk about her neurodiversity, but at the same time to become a surgical candidate is always of concern, because sometimes you can even discover the basis of her epilepsy during the procedure. So
00:15:22.680 --> 00:15:38.410 Jeffrey Demitrack: well, before I do that Well, this this show is epilepsy and neurodiversity. So I I was gonna just say, what does it mean to be? Nor or diverse I, and that means the the strengths that come along with the challenges of
00:15:38.410 --> 00:15:51.130 Jeffrey Demitrack: living with the invisible illnesses like epilepsy, autism, anxiety, Adhd, and many other neurological disorders, and these strengths and
00:15:51.130 --> 00:16:10.990 Jeffrey Demitrack: the unique way that the brain functions. To cope with. The illnesses such as these lead to amazing abilities, and to feel the energy of people around them, and and lead to a spiritual journey, such as the one Susannah had in her life.
00:16:10.990 --> 00:16:26.930 Jeffrey Demitrack: So you know, and we all want to have that spiritual journey, and sometimes the people that have These spiritual journeys, you know, have more happiness in their lives, you know. And is that correct, Susannah?
00:16:28.520 --> 00:16:29.720 Suzanna: So
00:16:30.010 --> 00:16:32.450 Well, Here's how I would describe
00:16:32.470 --> 00:16:45.770 Suzanna: a little bit that there's a lot to unpack there. I I guess One of the big things I learned over my years was that there's a difference between happy and joy if if that makes sense.
00:16:45.820 --> 00:16:49.790 Frank R Harrison: Yeah, because happy can come and go, and that can be
00:16:49.830 --> 00:16:55.070 Suzanna: one good day or one. you know, gift from a friend or one.
00:16:55.090 --> 00:16:57.490 Suzanna: you know, positive moment.
00:16:57.820 --> 00:17:02.280 Suzanna: but my joy is from down in my heart, and
00:17:02.350 --> 00:17:03.940 Frank R Harrison: it has to
00:17:04.030 --> 00:17:06.710 Suzanna: That had to grow for me. I had to.
00:17:08.650 --> 00:17:10.109 Suzanna: Well, I had to
00:17:10.619 --> 00:17:21.920 Suzanna: ponder and pray a lot, and think through and decide what my attitude is going to be as well. If I was going to live with this for the long term.
00:17:22.030 --> 00:17:26.780 Suzanna: I didn't have much control over anything of it which infuriated me.
00:17:26.950 --> 00:17:27.990 Frank R Harrison: But I
00:17:28.010 --> 00:17:30.970 Suzanna: did learn the things that
00:17:32.110 --> 00:17:33.830 Suzanna: one of the big lessons
00:17:34.720 --> 00:17:41.980 Suzanna: that we've taught our own daughter, and that now I it just makes sense Coming Full circle is that
00:17:42.000 --> 00:17:46.750 Suzanna: I can't control anything except my attitude. That's it.
00:17:46.880 --> 00:17:49.680 Suzanna: That's it, that's it. And then I can be.
00:17:50.190 --> 00:17:52.900 Suzanna: you know, as determined, and
00:17:53.010 --> 00:18:00.940 Suzanna: I can take all the right steps which is important. That's my responsibility for my own wellness and my health.
00:18:01.510 --> 00:18:03.780 Suzanna: and I had to learn
00:18:03.930 --> 00:18:06.830 Suzanna: how to do that. And in a healthy way.
00:18:07.070 --> 00:18:08.840 Frank R Harrison: Yeah, and on an angry way.
00:18:09.580 --> 00:18:24.290 Jeffrey Demitrack: Yes, and something that I like to, I guess you know, preach on my social media is minimize expectations, and and a chapter in your book is
00:18:24.290 --> 00:18:31.050 Jeffrey Demitrack: expect the unexpected, and that is something that that goes along in your life. As well
00:18:31.270 --> 00:18:42.180 Suzanna: minimize expectations. So you you can reach that. That that joy that you're talking about right, right? Because we have to be ready for disappointment.
00:18:42.220 --> 00:18:52.590 Frank R Harrison: We just do. I mean that's not because and i'm not saying that in a negative way. I'm not a pessimist. I've never been. But that's life that's ups and downs whatever battle you're facing.
00:18:53.610 --> 00:18:59.940 Frank R Harrison: Absolutely so I mean well during your writing of the book
00:19:00.370 --> 00:19:01.820 Frank R Harrison: seized and driven.
00:19:02.220 --> 00:19:17.810 Frank R Harrison: Do you mainly go into the accident leading to the epilepsy? Or do you go into after the fact, and how you were able to rise above from all of the challenges that you first faced when you face when you were first diagnosed, and then ultimately now looking at how your quality of life had to be
00:19:17.810 --> 00:19:24.730 Frank R Harrison: sort of adjusted in order to maintain some most of the goals that you probably set out with your husband and your daughter right
00:19:25.410 --> 00:19:29.120 Suzanna: so yes, I would say. I gave the
00:19:29.240 --> 00:19:33.510 Suzanna: accent as a as a backstory in my book as a prologue.
00:19:33.730 --> 00:19:34.900 Frank R Harrison: But really
00:19:35.530 --> 00:19:41.090 Suzanna: the main gist of it is all of the roller coaster of
00:19:41.540 --> 00:19:44.840 Suzanna: learning to live with the epilepsy
00:19:44.960 --> 00:19:47.750 Suzanna: and accepting it as part of my life.
00:19:48.020 --> 00:19:49.830 Suzanna: and not something
00:19:50.200 --> 00:19:53.060 Suzanna: I could deny or sweep under the rug
00:19:53.820 --> 00:20:00.980 Suzanna: but it, and it would take me years before I could embrace it and say it out loud
00:20:01.480 --> 00:20:02.270 Frank R Harrison: right
00:20:02.480 --> 00:20:04.460 Suzanna: without feeling.
00:20:05.990 --> 00:20:11.200 Suzanna: Oh, what am I going to be? You know who's going to think I I had to come.
00:20:12.320 --> 00:20:14.970 Suzanna: It took me a a long time
00:20:15.080 --> 00:20:27.300 Suzanna: before I could say it even as something that belonged to me. If that makes sense, it's like I have this. Yeah, I have epilepsy, and it just was hard. It was like I would want to choke to even say it
00:20:27.420 --> 00:20:29.130 Frank R Harrison: for the first several years.
00:20:29.330 --> 00:20:35.670 So were you one of those individuals who felt that the stigma was going to be most hurtful to you.
00:20:35.860 --> 00:20:43.850 Frank R Harrison: Yeah, because I know that that, you know I mean, you said you had it for 21 years and epilepsy in the last 10
00:20:43.850 --> 00:20:57.200 Frank R Harrison: has become more proactive in terms of innovations for cures as well as seizure control. Like, for example, Danny can tell you about her cannabis story when we get to her story. But at the same time we look at
00:20:57.220 --> 00:21:00.070 how social stigma
00:21:00.280 --> 00:21:07.170 Frank R Harrison: basically prevents most individuals. Once they discover they have epilepsy from being their true authentic selves
00:21:07.300 --> 00:21:15.640 Frank R Harrison: from coming up with excuses for odd behavior, the inability to stay a full, complete sentence. Oh, i'm sorry I didn't get enough sleep.
00:21:15.680 --> 00:21:24.270 Frank R Harrison: you know, and those excuses after a while they they show you in authenticity, and then you find yourself almost like isolated.
00:21:24.300 --> 00:21:42.420 Frank R Harrison: you know. So I guess what I always try to do, especially on this show by bringing out epilepsy. Awareness is, i'm trying to remove the stigma, because it's something that I've learned to embrace and use to my advantage, as your book indicates you've been able to do, and I think probably the lesson learned is that anyone
00:21:42.420 --> 00:21:50.960 Frank R Harrison: who is suffering from seizure disorder. Let's just call it that has to say, okay, I've been given this gift. How do I use it to make my goals come true.
00:21:51.940 --> 00:21:59.670 Frank R Harrison: Yes, just even thinking that way stops seizure, activity, or I I mean, i'd like to think so. But you know.
00:21:59.680 --> 00:22:06.780 Frank R Harrison: is is there is there any way that you've been able to remove the stigma or the feeling of stigma from your life and move forward
00:22:08.030 --> 00:22:12.630 Suzanna: for me? It was a slow churning of
00:22:13.400 --> 00:22:19.900 Suzanna: some counseling and some good mentor relationships, as well as
00:22:20.970 --> 00:22:27.630 Suzanna: just leaning hard on the safe people in my life. and little by little
00:22:27.940 --> 00:22:31.500 Suzanna: talking about it more and more, and then I realized
00:22:33.270 --> 00:22:34.540 Suzanna: it wasn't
00:22:34.820 --> 00:22:38.060 so bad, after all, to say
00:22:38.200 --> 00:22:40.950 Suzanna: i'm living with this chronic condition. But
00:22:41.510 --> 00:22:54.940 Suzanna: right, that's what i'm. It's like that. I I love this song. I'm still standing. Elton. John. Yeah. Possibly my favorite classic.
00:22:55.140 --> 00:22:56.820 Suzanna: a rock artist.
00:22:57.310 --> 00:23:00.560 Frank R Harrison: But that is true. I mean, we have to
00:23:02.070 --> 00:23:09.830 Suzanna: say that okay today was not so good. But I get a new opportunity in the morning, God willing. And
00:23:10.170 --> 00:23:13.750 Suzanna: so what can I do next to make this
00:23:14.510 --> 00:23:16.140 Suzanna: better for myself.
00:23:16.740 --> 00:23:17.940 Frank R Harrison: Exactly.
00:23:19.470 --> 00:23:23.750 Frank R Harrison: Oh, Danny, on Mute, I think you're talking
00:23:23.850 --> 00:23:33.860 Danielle: Okay? Sorry. Oh, no. I was just gonna ask you, Susanna, if there was like a defining moment that that was sort of the transition of
00:23:33.970 --> 00:23:48.540 Danielle: feeling kind of bad about the seizures into feeling more empowered, or, if it was more of a slow transition? Or were there any actions you took that kind of made you feel more more empowered or more like comfortable?
00:23:51.190 --> 00:23:53.000 Suzanna: It was a slow.
00:23:53.070 --> 00:23:54.050 Frank R Harrison: Okay, bye.
00:23:54.560 --> 00:23:58.870 Suzanna: gradual, I guess growth for me, and
00:23:59.000 --> 00:24:00.460 Suzanna: I had to.
00:24:03.720 --> 00:24:05.310 Suzanna: I guess it was a
00:24:05.570 --> 00:24:10.250 Suzanna: training. Of the more I said it out loud.
00:24:11.240 --> 00:24:12.430 Suzanna: the easier it got
00:24:13.000 --> 00:24:14.700 Suzanna: that I
00:24:14.830 --> 00:24:18.150 Suzanna: have this. I have these types of seizures.
00:24:19.460 --> 00:24:33.730 Suzanna: the cause isn't fully known. And oh, guess what i'm learning as I go. and a lot of that was well, it was learning
00:24:33.990 --> 00:24:37.070 Suzanna: on a number of levels, I mean. I had to figure out
00:24:37.240 --> 00:24:39.090 Frank R Harrison: what my best health
00:24:39.100 --> 00:24:44.100 Suzanna: here would be in my options, and that just because
00:24:45.250 --> 00:24:54.790 Suzanna: a the woman or man in front of me had the Md. After their name doesn't mean, they know what's best for me. And
00:24:55.140 --> 00:25:04.960 Suzanna: you know, being okay with not being okay all the time. Does that make sense? I mean, and to be okay it One day my the huge thing for me
00:25:05.980 --> 00:25:07.140 Suzanna: was
00:25:07.630 --> 00:25:11.150 Suzanna: being okay, asking for help, a lot of help.
00:25:11.840 --> 00:25:18.320 Frank R Harrison: And yeah, I was pretty stubborn about that for a lot of years.
00:25:18.630 --> 00:25:26.440 Suzanna: and once I one site. I guess, loosen my grip the white knuckle, feeling that i'm
00:25:26.700 --> 00:25:30.800 Suzanna: just still going to try to take charge, and I mean because
00:25:31.170 --> 00:25:35.690 Suzanna: I lost my ability to drive. and
00:25:35.800 --> 00:25:38.230 Frank R Harrison: it affected all of my
00:25:38.320 --> 00:25:40.680 Suzanna: goals and dreams I had
00:25:40.790 --> 00:25:49.520 Suzanna: in terms of work or career, or thinking about starting a family, or possibly going back to school. So I really had to loosen
00:25:50.210 --> 00:25:51.100 Suzanna: and
00:25:52.520 --> 00:26:01.740 Suzanna: redirect some of my goals and expectations. And once I did that. you know, it really brought me to a more
00:26:03.370 --> 00:26:05.500 Suzanna: peaceful place.
00:26:05.970 --> 00:26:08.350 Frank R Harrison: Right right awesome.
00:26:09.190 --> 00:26:20.630 Frank R Harrison: I mean overall, Susanna. As I listen to your story, I can see that part of your concerns at the time. Were listening to whatever people were saying about epilepsy as a stigma.
00:26:20.840 --> 00:26:26.560 Frank R Harrison: and even listening to your situation clinically. I can actually say, as I've learned
00:26:26.640 --> 00:26:32.240 Frank R Harrison: from several years of watching people who suffer from seizures who are actually post-traumatic
00:26:32.350 --> 00:26:35.380 Frank R Harrison: that they're not really the
00:26:35.640 --> 00:26:45.860 Frank R Harrison: but I don't know what is use the word inauthentic, but they're not really epileptic patients, because they have medications that control their seizures, and after they've been seizure free, they can stop taking them
00:26:46.240 --> 00:26:49.650 versus the genetic epileptic, which is myself.
00:26:49.740 --> 00:26:51.740 Frank R Harrison: where I have to take it forever
00:26:52.280 --> 00:26:59.320 Frank R Harrison: until there's a cure. But the thing is is that you're in the situation where you only had one grandmother seizure.
00:26:59.630 --> 00:27:04.930 Frank R Harrison: Apparently Jeff mentioned you were a candidate for surgery. but your book indicates
00:27:05.480 --> 00:27:21.350 Frank R Harrison: how you turned yourself into someone of a real spiritual leader in your in your social circles and in your profession. So I would have to say you really, if if if someone wants to attach a label to you, and they say the word epilepsy
00:27:21.400 --> 00:27:32.330 Frank R Harrison: or epileptic. Say, okay, that's one of my features because i'm a neuro-diverse person. You know i'm able to think out of the box. I've been able to have more intuition on things.
00:27:32.420 --> 00:27:40.050 Frank R Harrison: You know. Those are the those are the kinds of ways to use it to your advantage by removing the sense that you are an epileptic, because
00:27:40.160 --> 00:27:44.840 Frank R Harrison: your symptomology does not mean you're epileptic in my view. Correct me if i'm wrong, Jeff.
00:27:44.960 --> 00:27:48.300 Frank R Harrison: But or even Danny, the thing is is that
00:27:48.560 --> 00:27:57.770 Frank R Harrison: you You strike me as an individual that is able to use it for the good of others, and I think we are about to take our second break when we return.
00:27:58.070 --> 00:28:06.270 Frank R Harrison: We want to learn more about the details of your book. And, Danny, I know you have questions on yoga and meditation that I really want you to explore with her
00:28:06.310 --> 00:28:24.160 Frank R Harrison: in the next section, and of course I've got questions. And anyone out there who's listening to the show right now feel free to write in your own questions. Live, and we'll do what we can to answer them in real time. As we return to this episode of epilepsy and neurodiversity right here on talk, radio and Nyc.
00:28:24.190 --> 00:28:28.000 Frank R Harrison: And on all of our social media channels. All right. We'll be back in a few.
00:28:29.620 --> 00:28:43.940 Are you passionate about the conversation around racism? Hi! I'm Reverend Dr. Tlc. Host of the dismantled racism show which airs every Thursday at 11 a. M. Eastern on talk radio, Dot Nyc
00:28:43.940 --> 00:28:56.500 join me and my amazing guest as we discussed ways to uncover dismantle and eradicate racism. That's Thursdays at 110'clock a. M. On talk, radio, and nyc
00:28:59.130 --> 00:29:26.960 in a post-provin world. You may have many unanswered questions regarding your health Are you looking to live a healthier lifestyle? Do you have a desire to learn more about mental health, and enhance your quality of life? Or do you just want to participate in self-understanding and awareness. I'm. Frank R. Harrison, host of Frank about health and each Thursday. I will tackle these questions and work to enlighten you. Tune in every 35 P. M. On talk radio and Nyc. And I will be frank about help to advocate for all of us.
00:29:32.200 --> 00:29:56.090 Hey, everybody. It's Tommy. Gee, the nonprofit sector connector coming at you from my attic each week here on talk radio and Nyc: I hosted program the lab of can focus non-profits in cocktails each and every day, and it's my focus to help them amplify their message and tell their story. Listen each week at 10 a. M. Eastern standard time until 11. A. M. Is from standing time right here on talk radio, Dot: Nyc.
00:29:57.320 --> 00:30:07.720 You're listening to talk radio and Yc: at Www. Talk, radio and live c. Now broadcasting 24 h a day.
00:30:08.280 --> 00:30:09.250 The
00:30:28.250 --> 00:30:36.630 Frank R Harrison: welcome back and let's just go through a a brief review before we move forward with the Q. And a piece of today's episode.
00:30:37.010 --> 00:31:00.520 Frank R Harrison: Neurodiversity basically includes a spectrum of illnesses from epilepsy to autism, to adhd asperger's. Syndrome and Other neurological disorders. Hypergraphia was mentioned by Jeff in terms of some symptoms. I don't think, Susanna, you talk about having suffered from hypergraphia. People have suffered from a sense of religiosity, I think, in the post-yctal state after a seizure.
00:31:00.520 --> 00:31:19.950 Frank R Harrison: Most people feel this urge to reconnect with humanity after being unconscious for 10 min, whatever it is. There's this sense of reorganization that goes on, and people are just amazed when they reconnect even with family members or friends, because they feel kind of back to their old self, and it almost gets to a Thank God, this happened.
00:31:20.100 --> 00:31:31.940 Frank R Harrison: But in your case you pretty much led in your own mission to have a a family, and your other professional dreams come true. You relied on spirituality as your guide
00:31:31.970 --> 00:31:46.730 Frank R Harrison: in terms of your direction and your path in life, and so that is, I guess, a difference versus the term religiosity. The other aspect of neurodiversity is, I know, Danny, with your circumstances. You've tried cannabis as a treatment
00:31:46.730 --> 00:32:05.530 Frank R Harrison: you've gotten involved in yoga and meditation to help relax your nerves in the workplace as well as in social settings as well as just to relax. I mean right now. I know you're going through some changes with your medication regime, so i'm sure you're dealing with fatigue issues. I can identify with that. So I understand how you feel. But at the same time.
00:32:05.530 --> 00:32:10.070 Frank R Harrison: I think, if anything, we all have our own individual challenges, because
00:32:10.170 --> 00:32:25.800 Frank R Harrison: epilepsy is defining a community, but it just doesn't define the individual. Every individual plays a different part in terms of their their affect in terms of their so type of seizures in terms of the type of medications, the the type of doctor they have.
00:32:25.800 --> 00:32:38.120 Frank R Harrison: and I guess in each of us. We've kind of gone over different stories as to how we've had to live with epilepsy, or if we're still on going through seizures. But I think
00:32:38.370 --> 00:32:41.660 Frank R Harrison: what I hear in your in your stories, Susanna, is that
00:32:41.710 --> 00:32:47.380 Frank R Harrison: epilepsy to you was more of a social condition which I think you've been able to overcome.
00:32:47.840 --> 00:32:58.160 Frank R Harrison: So I think now that I've reviewed that, do you want to go into a a little bit about the book, and what the main lesson that the reader is going to take away from that book
00:32:59.070 --> 00:33:00.040 Suzanna: sure.
00:33:00.760 --> 00:33:01.730 Suzanna: so
00:33:03.690 --> 00:33:04.910 Suzanna: the big
00:33:05.410 --> 00:33:05.990 Frank R Harrison: that
00:33:06.000 --> 00:33:07.780 Suzanna: the reason I felt
00:33:07.800 --> 00:33:12.470 Suzanna: such an urge to write it, I think, was because I had so much.
00:33:14.530 --> 00:33:19.540 Suzanna: I felt like I was going to burst with stories and emotions, and
00:33:20.970 --> 00:33:27.990 Suzanna: just the journey i'd been on. It's like, I think, Kierkegaard said, that life
00:33:28.090 --> 00:33:34.250 Suzanna: has to be lived moving forward, but we can only understand it looking back.
00:33:34.630 --> 00:33:42.920 Suzanna: And so I was looking back at so many lessons I learned. and so many times that I've been just truly carried.
00:33:43.010 --> 00:33:49.320 Suzanna: and I had to drop the pride i'd always been a I can do it myself, person.
00:33:49.600 --> 00:33:50.780 Frank R Harrison: and
00:33:51.210 --> 00:34:00.010 Suzanna: i'm telling you the epilepsy gave me a compassion for other people with invisible conditions
00:34:00.380 --> 00:34:04.670 Suzanna: that I don't think I would have had otherwise, and
00:34:04.720 --> 00:34:06.120 Suzanna: it made my heart
00:34:06.510 --> 00:34:11.210 Suzanna: hurt for hearing other people's stories when they talked about their own
00:34:11.449 --> 00:34:14.010 Suzanna: conditions, and you find a bond that
00:34:15.230 --> 00:34:24.239 Suzanna: and i'm sure you can. Probably I'll relate to this is when you talk to somebody who's had a very similar experience or something
00:34:24.699 --> 00:34:26.380 Suzanna: that just
00:34:27.030 --> 00:34:29.639 Suzanna: that they're constantly battling
00:34:31.159 --> 00:34:32.440 Suzanna: without a
00:34:33.489 --> 00:34:35.449 Suzanna: definitive answer.
00:34:36.150 --> 00:34:41.110 Frank R Harrison: I mean it. It's true that old saying about you can become bitter, you can become better.
00:34:42.670 --> 00:34:45.570 Frank R Harrison: Yes, that's that's valid.
00:34:45.760 --> 00:34:48.100 Suzanna: right, I mean.
00:34:48.540 --> 00:34:49.449 Suzanna: So
00:34:50.000 --> 00:34:52.520 Suzanna: it's very freeing
00:34:52.580 --> 00:34:54.400 Suzanna: to say you know what
00:34:55.310 --> 00:34:58.490 Suzanna: I've got this issue, and it's not going away.
00:34:58.500 --> 00:35:10.440 Suzanna: And you know what if someone wants to judge me for it? That's not my problem. I don't own that. But what I do own is my own care and my own attitude.
00:35:10.870 --> 00:35:12.640 Frank R Harrison: and how I
00:35:12.680 --> 00:35:16.890 Suzanna: choose to move forward, and then to to educate.
00:35:17.020 --> 00:35:21.860 Suzanna: You know. if someone doesn't understand, Well, maybe I can help them understand better.
00:35:22.630 --> 00:35:41.850 Frank R Harrison: correct, correct, basically, it becomes a manual for those suffering from whether it's seizure, disorder or other neurological issues. And the psychological effects of depression and anxiety that might also be developed. As a result, it gives them, like a manual of how to reframe in their thinking.
00:35:41.870 --> 00:35:42.870 how
00:35:43.010 --> 00:35:53.170 Frank R Harrison: they move forward in a different way versus the way they originally planned, and to allow the flexibility of your mind based on your circumstances that are going on at the moment
00:35:53.440 --> 00:35:59.670 Frank R Harrison: to make the adjustment to. So you can be more resilient and give that same energy to other people. So
00:35:59.690 --> 00:36:04.130 Frank R Harrison: it it is. It's actually a spiritual guide that one can say
00:36:04.270 --> 00:36:16.250 Suzanna: right? Yeah, You could say that I mean it really. Did I love that word resilient because we all have to come to that place where we've gotten a thicker skin, but we're not bitter.
00:36:16.500 --> 00:36:17.860 Suzanna: and
00:36:18.330 --> 00:36:20.910 Suzanna: you know we cry out, I've cried out
00:36:21.360 --> 00:36:30.220 Frank R Harrison: to God many, many times I did ask the why. but I learned not to obsess about the why? Because we're not going to always know that in this life.
00:36:30.280 --> 00:36:32.240 Frank R Harrison: right? Right.
00:36:32.430 --> 00:36:41.490 Danielle: Yeah, I think I don't know about you and Frank. If you guys have ever had that experience. But Susanna and I were talking about it a little bit before the show started.
00:36:42.760 --> 00:36:52.400 Danielle: Yeah, those those moments when you feel like Well, why is this happening to me? What what did I do wrong? I remember. So my seizure started when I was like 9 or 10.
00:36:53.040 --> 00:36:58.220 Danielle: So those first 2 years I had been brought up like
00:36:58.240 --> 00:37:05.300 Frank R Harrison: going to church, and everything I wasn't totally sure about it, but they're not going to go there, but
00:37:07.190 --> 00:37:25.940 Danielle: sort of funny stories there. But I I thought maybe I did something wrong, and that was being like, punished, or, you know, like God was punishing me. But like why, what's what did I do? I'm really sorry, like I think I even tried. I don't know how, if you guys have read Harry Potter or watch the movies. But with those like de mentors
00:37:26.150 --> 00:37:39.340 Frank R Harrison: that are like, suck all the happiness out of a place like I used to kind of pretend that that's what was happening when the seizures came, or when I was feeling like that. Try and make it all go away.
00:37:39.380 --> 00:37:51.810 Danielle: But I and I say that because you know, as time goes on, I think we all do ask that that why? And we do like question like, well, what's happening, especially when there are no answers. But
00:37:52.000 --> 00:37:55.450 Danielle: I think this position also does
00:37:55.500 --> 00:38:01.530 Danielle: almost force you to to dig deeper, to ask more questions of yourself, to reflect more
00:38:01.750 --> 00:38:12.720 Danielle: inwards, and become more empathetic. And I think exactly what he said. I I actually become more sensitive, I think, to other people's struggles, and
00:38:12.940 --> 00:38:16.700 Danielle: I also probably would not have as much
00:38:17.160 --> 00:38:19.710 Danielle: compassion for a lot of those things.
00:38:19.940 --> 00:38:23.160 Danielle: Now, if I if I hadn't had these.
00:38:23.280 --> 00:38:24.410 Danielle: this condition would.
00:38:24.800 --> 00:38:38.680 Jeffrey Demitrack: And and Susannah, when I asked you before, if you ever had that hyper religiosity or hypographia, if they were characteristics of your epilepsy. You responded with a convincing No.
00:38:38.680 --> 00:39:03.150 Jeffrey Demitrack: but the the spiritual journey is an important part of the lives of many with epilepsy, and whether it is so, being a religious person, or if it's an atheist, the if, if they consider themselves an atheist, of course, and a remarkable journey of faith or practices of meditation, or or yoga.
00:39:03.150 --> 00:39:17.490 Jeffrey Demitrack: a search for inner peace or a moral or ethical, you know ethical, you know. Say practices. You know these point back to that
00:39:17.490 --> 00:39:31.820 Jeffrey Demitrack: that hyper religiosity that it that guess when suggested in his temporal lobe the research that he did way back when in the seventies or so, and that's why I would wanted to bring that up. Yes, sir.
00:39:32.020 --> 00:39:33.070 Suzanna: surely.
00:39:33.070 --> 00:39:54.470 Jeffrey Demitrack: And also, you know, when it comes to. You know neurodiversity, you know people Aren't, saying that you know having epilepsy is a good thing. It's just so. We're saying that strengths can come out of adversity, you know, because you know a lot of people will say, hey, this isn't a good thing, you know. And
00:39:54.660 --> 00:40:16.170 Jeffrey Demitrack: yeah, a lot of people would criticize, you know. Oh, you know, this is a you know this isn't a good thing, but you know these. The abnormal brain activity of of seizures sometimes leads to the spiritual journey that that Susannah went through, and and really I I hope that it her journey empowers other people.
00:40:16.690 --> 00:40:21.830 Frank R Harrison: No, we haven't. Oh, no! Oh, i'm sorry when it would complete that. But
00:40:22.010 --> 00:40:25.750 Suzanna: I was just going to say there's a term that
00:40:25.960 --> 00:40:34.130 Suzanna: from the prophet Isaiah what that says, beauty from ashes. and I think that's a little bit what we're talking about.
00:40:34.270 --> 00:40:37.970 Suzanna: and that No, I wouldn't wish this on anyone.
00:40:38.400 --> 00:40:39.240 Suzanna: but
00:40:40.570 --> 00:40:46.970 Suzanna: i'm telling you it's brought. It has brought its own, its own unique gifts
00:40:47.500 --> 00:41:07.270 Frank R Harrison: correct. Well, we have a question from our studio audio. Well, that studio audience, our Internet audience. It says as someone with Abh, D. I'm kind of curious. For myself, I had to hit a breaking point before I accepted seeking help for treatment. I got to a point where I had to stop, feeling bad for myself, and like a victim.
00:41:07.270 --> 00:41:19.340 Frank R Harrison: and realized that I had the power to help myself through help from others. Did you see yourself or selves? Meaning, I guess all 4 of us come to a similar moment when that switch just flipped.
00:41:19.460 --> 00:41:30.860 Frank R Harrison: And was it a gradual or immediate process to acceptance? And then we have a minute before our our next break, so let's start with you, Susanna. Then Danielle. Then Jeff and i'll close it out.
00:41:32.890 --> 00:41:38.250 Suzanna: I'd say it was probably 3 or 4 doctors
00:41:38.360 --> 00:41:40.220 Suzanna: into my journey
00:41:41.100 --> 00:41:44.250 Suzanna: that I found that kind of tipping point.
00:41:44.460 --> 00:41:53.030 Suzanna: Okay, so, and I and I always had my husband with me. He was my my solid rock and my backup
00:41:53.610 --> 00:41:54.280 Frank R Harrison: right.
00:41:54.340 --> 00:41:59.180 Suzanna: and I realized it needed somebody else's ears when I was in an appointment.
00:42:00.490 --> 00:42:05.300 Frank R Harrison: Yeah, and someone else, you know, to advocate with me that I didn't have to be.
00:42:06.090 --> 00:42:10.860 Suzanna: It's all the old saying that no one person is an island of their own.
00:42:12.280 --> 00:42:13.220 Frank R Harrison: Yes.
00:42:13.290 --> 00:42:15.180 Suzanna: I don't know if any of Danny.
00:42:15.400 --> 00:42:30.880 Frank R Harrison: No, no, I mean you had the support system, and your doctors basically led you on the road to acceptance, and knowing you had support both professionally and within your own, within your relationship with your husband that was allowing you to walk through the fire per se. So
00:42:31.250 --> 00:42:34.200 Frank R Harrison: you did answer the question. How about you, Danny?
00:42:34.970 --> 00:42:39.680 Danielle: Well, I started having seizures when I was about 9,
00:42:39.960 --> 00:42:51.040 Danielle: and not so. I I want to say my parents and my my family, really like, encouraged me to ask for help. But I also, even as a kid, is always very like stubborn and independent.
00:42:51.230 --> 00:43:04.340 Danielle: So I. I already had a lot of the the help I needed growing up, but I will say as an adult, I only even to this day I think sometimes I only ask for help in certain situations like
00:43:04.390 --> 00:43:18.050 Danielle: I'll ask for help from my boyfriend who lives with me, if I need it, from my family, or from my my friends, is like in roommates in college, right? I would tell them what to do if I had a seizure. Things like that. But
00:43:18.350 --> 00:43:20.930 Danielle: I I don't think I really.
00:43:22.540 --> 00:43:23.310 Danielle: Yeah.
00:43:23.890 --> 00:43:42.690 Danielle: You're still probably on that journey towards acceptance. But I know that since I've met you you've been living with it with a with a relative level of acceptance, I mean for you to take the risk. To go to Cannabis soil is not the problem. I accept it. I i'm a freaking phoenix. You die when you have a seizure. People who come back to life when you're back it's great.
00:43:42.690 --> 00:43:54.070 Danielle: I just said I I have a kind of like a hyper independence, I think, and I know they say that can come from like childhood traumas, but I think it can also come from
00:43:54.170 --> 00:44:02.330 Danielle: things like epilepsy where you do lose control, and the more you want to pull and be independent, you know it's it's kind of like a.
00:44:02.420 --> 00:44:08.080 Danielle: It's hard when you have a condition, whether it's epilepsy, or I think this person said they had Adhd.
00:44:08.110 --> 00:44:11.550 Danielle: Yeah, it's. It's a practice if you have to practice asking.
00:44:12.560 --> 00:44:16.010 Frank R Harrison: So you, Jeff, was it gradual or immediate for you to
00:44:16.050 --> 00:44:34.770 Jeffrey Demitrack: come to acceptance with your epilepsy? Well, like Danny, I was diagnosed with epilepsy very early at 10 years old, and it's been a long process for me, and I think acceptance is a long process, so regardless acceptance of it. Any illness, any struggle in your life.
00:44:34.770 --> 00:44:45.420 Jeffrey Demitrack: any trauma and epilepsy, and seizures Every seizure is a trauma is traumatic, and so I think that
00:44:45.420 --> 00:45:13.920 Jeffrey Demitrack: going through my journey it has been a spiritual process. I think that it sometimes my seizures can be very spiritual. They can be out of body experiences involved. They can be of you. For sometimes people, when they hear that word that that's supposed to be, you know, pleasurable. But it it it's not pleasurable, because sometimes I realize that there is an injury involved it. So you know it's a it's
00:45:13.920 --> 00:45:33.670 Jeffrey Demitrack: It's just the process. In general it's a lifelong process, and i'm I'm dealing with it to day by day, and I need to figure out what I'm going to do next in this process, and and finding people along the way that are also dealing with it, and and seeing how they cope
00:45:33.670 --> 00:45:43.560 Jeffrey Demitrack: and how I can, you know, put that into my life? Is it all right all ways that i'm, i'm trying to figure it out for myself.
00:45:44.280 --> 00:45:46.210 Suzanna: Well, I definitely wanted to.
00:45:46.250 --> 00:45:47.500 Suzanna: Sorry for
00:45:47.550 --> 00:46:06.520 Frank R Harrison: No, no, no, it's okay. I'm. I'm gonna say we're gonna go to our final break, because I I think we have to right now, but and then i'll open the next segment with my answer of of acceptance, and then I want to hear what you were saying. So please stay tuned for the next segment of the final segment of this episode on epilepsy and neurodiversity. We'll be back in a few
00:46:07.540 --> 00:46:08.150 www.TalkRadio.nyc: The
00:46:09.810 --> 00:46:33.690 everybody it's Tommy deed a non-profit sector connector coming at you from my attic each week here on talk radio and Ny Z. I hosted program for Lambda can focus non-profits in cocktails each and every day and it's my focus to help them amplify their message. And tell their story. Listen. Each week at 10 a. M. Eastern standard time until 11 a. M. Is from standing time right here on talk radio dot nyc
00:46:34.710 --> 00:47:02.530 www.TalkRadio.nyc: in a post- movement world. You may have many unanswered questions regarding your health. Are you looking to live a healthier lifestyle? Do you have a desire to learn more about mental health, and enhance your quality of life? Or do you just want to participate in self-understanding and awareness? I'm Frank R. Harrison, host of Frank about health, and each Thursday I will tackle these questions and work to enlighten you. Tune in every Thursday 5 P. M. On talk radio and Nyc. And I will be frank about help to advocate for all of us.
00:47:05.040 --> 00:47:12.470 www.TalkRadio.nyc: Are you a conscious Co-creator? Are you on a quest to raise your vibration and your consciousness.
00:47:12.510 --> 00:47:36.330 I'm. Sam Liebo. It's your conscious consultant, and on my show the conscious consultant hour awakening humanity. We will touch upon all these topics and more. Listen. Live at our new time on Thursdays at 12 noon Eastern time. That's the conscious consultant hour awakening humanity. Thursday's 12 noon on talk radio and nyc
00:47:40.710 --> 00:47:50.660 You're listening to talk radio, Nyc: at Ww. Talk radio and Yc. Now broadcasting 24 h a day.
00:48:10.730 --> 00:48:20.310 Suzanna: Welcome back now, Susanna, by all means, say what you were going to ask. I I didn't want to interrupt you. I apologize for that. No, no, no worries at all. I was just going to say I
00:48:21.380 --> 00:48:31.290 Suzanna: really appreciate Dan Anne and Jeff's comments, because I think a lot of times our acceptance is kind of 2 steps forward and one step back.
00:48:31.690 --> 00:48:33.510 Suzanna: I mean there were.
00:48:33.570 --> 00:48:37.430 Frank R Harrison: and the moments when that were the worst ones for me like.
00:48:38.030 --> 00:48:44.440 Suzanna: okay. I had seizures at work, and I lost bladder control, and i'm standing there with.
00:48:45.250 --> 00:48:49.670 Suzanna: and my pants are all wet. I don't want to accept it at that moment.
00:48:49.700 --> 00:48:50.800 Suzanna: Are you kidding me
00:48:50.850 --> 00:48:55.370 Frank R Harrison: embarrassing? Yes, I understand. You know it was so. It was mortifying.
00:48:55.790 --> 00:49:00.120 Suzanna: and and I guess all I I had to learn to take that and say
00:49:00.930 --> 00:49:01.810 Suzanna: right.
00:49:05.210 --> 00:49:08.890 Suzanna: I'm moving forward, and i'm i'm not going to, you know.
00:49:10.220 --> 00:49:18.380 Suzanna: Relive this over and over and over. although that's what my mind would do. So It just takes
00:49:19.280 --> 00:49:27.020 Suzanna: whatever form of expression for your emotions, and then for the support that you need
00:49:27.410 --> 00:49:28.170 Frank R Harrison: right.
00:49:28.980 --> 00:49:58.280 Jeffrey Demitrack: And and you see who is supportive in your life. When you have procedures like that, when you lose control of your bladder, and people can lose control of their bowels to. You know I mean seizures can be that disgusting, that nasty and really and when you have someone in your life that will be supportive, you know at that you know stage of a seizure, and when a seizure is that disgusting. Then you know who is being supportive in your life.
00:49:58.570 --> 00:50:02.550 Suzanna: You learn who your friends are. Yes, exactly
00:50:03.030 --> 00:50:11.620 Frank R Harrison: now. I wanted to say, to answer the question, and thank you again. Whoever was out there and for those of you when this show ends shortly.
00:50:11.630 --> 00:50:28.810 Frank R Harrison: If you have any further questions on today's show, please email myself, Frank R. Harrison, one@gmail.com. Or you could look for the replay of this on Youtube, Facebook, and then ask in the comments, section. Your question and I will definitely get back to you. But
00:50:28.950 --> 00:50:30.300 Frank R Harrison: basically I
00:50:30.380 --> 00:50:44.020 Frank R Harrison: I was diagnosed with genetically based epilepsy. It happened during the teen years, which is when all as wet, Danielle alluded to earlier, Our hormones are raging on various levels, plus coupled with the stress of being in a very high-powered
00:50:44.090 --> 00:50:58.740 Frank R Harrison: intensive concentration at my high school, which made me had sleepless nights, doing mathematics and calculus exams and papers, so I attributed my very first seizure to just not sleeping sleep deprivation.
00:50:58.770 --> 00:51:02.760 Frank R Harrison: So I continued to deny. Once I was diagnosed as epilepsy.
00:51:02.950 --> 00:51:08.790 Frank R Harrison: I continued to as as epileptic, that I continued to deny that I had. It. It was all situational for me.
00:51:08.870 --> 00:51:13.810 Frank R Harrison: and then eventually I was able to accept it. When I almost drowned in my own bathtub one night
00:51:13.920 --> 00:51:27.500 Frank R Harrison: in 1,987, and I was to this very medical Center right here, and Nyu Langgo and Health and they said you almost died tonight. So now you accept the fact that you're epileptic and you'll be taking dilant and intravenously.
00:51:27.780 --> 00:51:41.060 Frank R Harrison: And I said, okay, so that was quick acceptance on that. But on that level, but based on what you said, Susanna, there are many different levels of acceptance, which is why I do but think that for all of us it is always a gradual
00:51:41.330 --> 00:51:56.090 Frank R Harrison: process to accepting, because you have to accept first your diagnosis. You have to accept the people in your life that choose to either accept you with it or reject you because you have it. Then you've got to accept what the stigma
00:51:56.090 --> 00:52:17.760 Frank R Harrison: is based on history. What's unfortunate about epilepsy? Is that because it's not a tangible illness like a cancer tumor? Let's say people are always going to think when you're having a seizure in front of them. Oh, you're having a nervous breakdown. Oh, you're having your drug addict, or I think, Danny, you mentioned a story where people thought that you were homeless because you were outside when it happened.
00:52:17.900 --> 00:52:33.220 Frank R Harrison: You know the point of the met, or even you, Jeff, with your book on psychotic breaks, I mean, I think you were telling me about the one-eyed. a friend of yours that you were starting to look at, and you were actually calling him by a name which escapes me right now. But the thing is is that
00:52:33.260 --> 00:52:50.650 Frank R Harrison: epilepsy becomes a spectrum of other behaviors. And so I think what I want everyone to understand, especially the person that asks that question is that, regardless of if it's epilepsy, Adhd, or other kinds of psychological or neuromotor dysfunction.
00:52:51.100 --> 00:52:56.630 Frank R Harrison: you have to be able to accept it as a part of your life, and adapt your life
00:52:56.840 --> 00:53:10.170 Frank R Harrison: accordingly, and make it more creative, and produced in a way that is accepting by others. I think I've done it by creating this show. It was originally, as I've mentioned before, gonna be called Frank about epilepsy.
00:53:10.380 --> 00:53:25.360 Frank R Harrison: and then due to the very stigma. I didn't see an audience with that title, which is why I called it Frank about health, and then we had something else called Covid, and that was able to elevate the platform to also make not just Covid acceptable.
00:53:25.510 --> 00:53:35.590 Danielle: but also epilepsy and other disorders. I'm sorry did someone raise their hand. Oh, I did. I was just going to say just on that, really briefly, on the topic of
00:53:36.060 --> 00:53:40.710 Danielle: like Adhd autism, some of these other sort of invisible conditions that
00:53:40.760 --> 00:53:50.500 Danielle: I know there's more studies lately, too, about how they show up differently in in women than in men, or like various different different genders. So it's
00:53:50.690 --> 00:53:55.390 Danielle: It's it's always a struggle for acceptance and trying to
00:53:57.470 --> 00:54:05.870 Danielle: come to a place of piece with that, I guess. And then you I didn't want to interrupt. But I just did want to add that since I know we were talking about like neurodiversity and all that
00:54:05.870 --> 00:54:19.720 Jeffrey Demitrack: that, or neuro-diverse you know they also might have more empathy, and it those are in can be very impressive abilities, you know, in our society.
00:54:19.720 --> 00:54:34.890 Jeffrey Demitrack: Unfortunately, people are encouraged to to almost or almost rewarded to complain about what their problems and and you know. So we are absorbing that that negative energy.
00:54:34.890 --> 00:54:53.970 Jeffrey Demitrack: you know, as as empaths. People with epilepsy sometimes are are empath. And so we have to be a little protective of that negative energy that is is coming from society, and especially with that stigma also
00:54:53.970 --> 00:54:58.370 Jeffrey Demitrack: that is out there that we we need to be a little protective of that.
00:54:58.690 --> 00:55:15.940 Frank R Harrison: I do believe, though, like what i'm saying is that when you actually incorporate it into your professional or personal identity, and use it for the good of others. You can actually embrace it and accept it, and provide it as a means to an audience out there who are probably suffering from it or not.
00:55:15.940 --> 00:55:33.960 Frank R Harrison: that it is an acceptable illness, because it provides a service that wants the individual who's inflicted with it can explore. What service can they provide? Also, I want to say one thing. We're about to end in a couple minutes. The epilepsy conference that I attended right here last weekend with Orange.
00:55:34.080 --> 00:55:36.180 Frank R Harrison: I guess.
00:55:36.340 --> 00:55:48.880 Frank R Harrison: Okay. He's accepting it too cool. Don't have a Star Wars episode 10 don't have a Star Wars episode 10 because I won't watch it. No; but the thing is is that I want to point out
00:55:48.880 --> 00:56:06.930 Frank R Harrison: that in that conference there is an upcoming cut. I learned that the Mrna sequence in vaccines for Covid is now being tested as a cure for epilepsy and seizure control. Altogether. Now it hasn't been. FDA approved it. Hasn't been tried on any subjects.
00:56:06.930 --> 00:56:23.440 Frank R Harrison: but that was one of the secrets that I learned from this conference this past Sunday by Dr. Orrin Da Vinsky, who was very much the tower and promoter of cannabis oil back in 2,016. He has pointed out that while that is still working. In most cases
00:56:23.440 --> 00:56:41.910 Frank R Harrison: he is really believing. The Mrna Vaccine trial that went across our nation over the last 3 years has proved to be the potential cure for epilepsy in the next few years, in addition for other debilitating diseases like cancer aids as well as diabetes. Now I don't want to say debilitating, but
00:56:42.070 --> 00:56:44.730 Frank R Harrison: diseases that have been considered.
00:56:44.990 --> 00:57:02.290 Frank R Harrison: you know, like no cure, that there is a cure finally in process. So there's hope, and at the same time that can help people accept their condition much better, because then they'll go looking for the solutions and the advocacy that they need. Now that all being said
00:57:02.680 --> 00:57:05.150 Frank R Harrison: right now. We're about to sign off, but
00:57:05.260 --> 00:57:14.600 Frank R Harrison: I know you already showed your book. Jeff. Susannah seized and driven everybody available on amazon.com. It's a good seller and a good read
00:57:15.380 --> 00:57:20.840 Frank R Harrison: dating in the dark. I know basically Danielle, you and I were speaking about
00:57:20.940 --> 00:57:28.110 Frank R Harrison: opening up an entire epilepsy conference hosted at Hilton hotels in the summer.
00:57:28.130 --> 00:57:46.520 Frank R Harrison: and I'm. Still working on, collaborating that right now. Also in 3 weeks from now will be the second anniversary of Frank about health, and it will be live from Homewood suite suites in Edgewater, New Jersey, and Jeff and I will be there. Live to actually host another show.
00:57:46.520 --> 00:58:03.690 Frank R Harrison: Danny. I'm not sure you're in attendance, but that is fine, because we're working together on the conference planning. And I want to say before we sign off, because I think we are over the time limit. Stay tuned for Friday slate of shows on talk, radio and Nyc, which are always Friday in tangify and
00:58:03.690 --> 00:58:11.160 Frank R Harrison: philanthropy and focus, and they start from 11 to 10'clock tomorrow. Right here on talk radio and Nyc.
00:58:11.310 --> 00:58:24.500 Frank R Harrison: Please stay tuned for all of the other upcoming shows, and for next week's episode of Frank about health. Thank you, Dylan, for helping us produce this show in such trying circumstances, from technology to environment.
00:58:24.510 --> 00:58:29.000 Frank R Harrison: And thank you, Sam, always for all your support with the network, and with
00:58:29.040 --> 00:58:34.950 Frank about health. And I will say, if any of you have any last many comments before we sign off quickly.
00:58:35.330 --> 00:58:36.290 Jeffrey Demitrack: Bye, bye.
00:58:36.470 --> 00:58:42.170 Jeffrey Demitrack: Thank you all so much great. Thank you.
00:58:42.260 --> 00:58:44.980 Suzanna: You're happy to do it. Thanks again.
00:58:45.050 --> 00:58:46.190 Frank R Harrison: Okay.
00:58:46.340 --> 00:58:56.400 www.TalkRadio.nyc: all right. So we'll be. We'll be back in 3 weeks for our second anniversary show, which will be an epilepsy oriented joke presented at Hilton. Signing off good night.
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