From Seizures to Self-Reliance: My journey of courage
By Lance Montini
Hello – my name is Lance and I live outside of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. I started having seizures when I was thirteen years old. Having epilepsy at a young age was hard. The first neurologist I saw overmedicated me to the point that my vision was very blurry and I started to hallucinate. It was horrible. After that, my parents took me to Allegheny General Hospital Neurology. They ran many tests to determine what kind of seizures I was having and where in my brain they originated. They also adjusted my medication.
My doctors continued to try different medications, but nothing was working, so they suggested brain surgery. The surgery didn’t completely stop my seizures, but with medication it reduced them significantly. My entire family was a huge support from the first seizure through recovery from the surgery.
Over the years I continued seeing the same neurologist at Allegheny General Hospital. I had a second brain surgery that helped reduce my seizures even more, though not completely.
As I got older, I couldn’t drive and had to depend on my family for rides. I was nervous about taking public transportation or living on my own, but eventually, I decided it was time to move out of my parents’ home. It wasn’t easy — I had to overcome my fear of public transportation and learn to ride the bus. Still having seizures, I learned how to manage living independently.
As I became independent, I have had to learn to advocate for myself and keep myself safe. I keep a day’s worth of medication in my backpack just in case. I carry a list of my medications and my doctor’s information to give to others, and I have two medical alert bracelets — one on my wrist and one on my backpack. In my backpack I also keep an extra phone charger, extra bus fare, a bus schedule, a few pens, and a paper list of my meds. I have put all my prescriptions on auto-refill so I don’t forget to refill them, and I joined Walmart+ so I can have items delivered.
The JoshProvides Epilepsy Support Group has helped me keep in touch with other people who have epilepsy. It’s important to me to have people around who understand what I’m feeling and provide encouragement. They are always there when I need them. The group is like a second family to me.
Thanks to my friends from the JoshProvides Epilepsy Support Group, I know I’m not alone and I can live my life independently and navigate my challenges with courage.
