Challenge

 Like most neurological disorders/diseases those who live with them face constant challenges. The one in 26 Americans who have been diagnosed with Epilepsy are no different.

They have no way of knowing when their next seizure might come. Even if their seizures are well controlled with medication, the medications can make you feel like "you are not you". I know Anne struggled with this at times. The medication, of course, can be very expensive. Those with frequent enough seizures often cannot obtain or lose their license to drive a car. That makes them reliant on public transportation or friends and family to take them to work or complete everyday errands most of us take for granted. The hours and days post-seizure can be a blur as their brain tries to put itself back together. Frequent seizures can also make sleep difficult and lack of good sleep can increase frequency of seizures. 

These are just the challenge I know about from Anne's 25 years of dealing with seizures before she passed from SUDEP(Sudden Unexpected Death In Epilepsy). We didn't know what SUDEP was until after she died. Now it's something I fear for anyone dealing with epilepsy and their families. 

That's why we are challenging ourselves to cover as many miles by bicycle as we can in 12 hours. Specifically, more miles than we have ever covered before. (We rode 165 miles in 14 total hours in 2019.) Riding more than 165 miles is the burden Lisa and I have taken on. 

Here's what I think about anyone else who wants to ride with us, in person or in their home location, that day(July 23). 

Whatever miles you cover, the goal should be to ride 1 more mile than you have ever ridden before. Challenge yourself to suffer just a bit more. If you've never ridden more than 10 miles before, ride 11. If your old record is 50, why not go for 51? Riding stupidly long distances is something I both like and have time to prepare to do. But your 11 or 51 miles is every bit as meaningful to you as 166(more?) will be to Lisa and I. Because you challenged yourself to do more. You are doing it to remind yourself, and anyone who asks what you are doing, that epilepsy is a daily challenge. 

If you want to donate, or sign up for our fundraising team here is the link Raise One For Anne 2022.

More details about the start time and place of our personal challenge will be available soon. But in case you missed it, circle July 23 as the date.