Cheyeanne Crosby | Faces of Epilepsy

My Name is Cheyeanne Crosby and I am a 21-year-old with Epilepsy, learning disabilities, and Emotional conditions, and other medical conditions. For the first few months of my life I was a typical baby and one year old. I reached every milestone, but that was shortly lived. When I was 22 month’s I started having seizures, but my parents didn’t know or know what kind, all they knew was something was wrong with their baby girl. August 8, 1997 I was diagnosed with Complex Partial, Atonic, and Myoclonic Seizures. I had 12-20 Atonic Seizures a day. November 7, 1997 I was diagnosed with Landau Kleffner Syndrome and lost my ability to talk. My seizures were intractable and I had Hypotonia (Floppy Baby Syndrome). November 1, 1998, I had a Neuropsychological evaluation done and I had scores that if I hadn’t had Epilepsy would have meant I would have been severally Autistic. I had been on just about every old drug there was on the market and I had side effects to all of them. January 1999 I had a Generalized Tonic Clonic (Grand Mal) seizure and went into a coma. The doctors told my parents to expect the worse and I was Life lighted to Miami Children’s Hospital and I had brain surgery performed by a Neurosurgeon named Doctor Glen Morrison. During surgery I had to have a blood transfusion. After surgery he told my family that after my surgery that I could become physically and mentally handicap. After surgery when my parents got to my recovery room, instead of seeing me bed ridded or who knows what they see me playing with a “Male nurse” they described him as this tall and big boned guy. They looked at his tag and it said Michael. He told them “Don’t worry mom and dad, she is going to be just fine.” They went in the next day to thank him and the nurses said “We don’t have any male nurses named Michael.” My parents looked at each other and knew then that he was my guardian angel that God had sent down for me. I also walked on my tip toes and had to go to physical therapy for it for a little while. When I was a toddler I was diagnosed with an intellectual disability.

At the age of four I went to a special needs school to learn things I should have learned when I was one-three years old. Pre-K-12 I was in Ese class and had accommodations, but Pre-K-6 I had an aide with me that went to all my classes every day. When I was in Kindergarten I had a Petit Mal seizure and started coloring on everything that wasn’t the paper. Pre-K to third grade the first time I was in third grade I had to take speech classes (because I was held back for a second year when I was 10). When I was 10 I was put on Keppra and I did good on it and then my old neurologist tried me without any and I was off until I was 15 then I went on another one, since I was going on an antidepressant, but when neither worked (no side effects, just no help) I was taken off. so then I contacted my case manager at Epilepsy Alliance Florida and told her and she told me to get set up with a neurologist (Since I hadn’t had one since I was 15). I got set up with one and had an Ambulatory EEG done July 12, 2016. My results showed activity (but no seizures), which it always will. July 19, 2016 around 9:30pm I am just hanging out and when I inhaled, swallowed, and or licked my lips I tasted salt on my lips.

It was weird, because I hadn’t eaten or drinken anything salty for a snack or dinner, which was hours before and it lasted until 10 something and no matter what I did I couldn’t get rid of the taste, so I read up on types of seizures, asked people on a closed group who had this before, and told my doctor and he said I had a simple partial and effected my sense of taste. He then recommend I get a Video EEG done, so he left and I had to get a new neurologist, but still had the test done. The Video EEG came back good, but I also had to have a new MRI done and that came back normal too. I am no longer considered intellectually disabled, but I do have learning disabilities. As a precaution, because of my history my neurologist had put me back on my Keppra and I had to stop it, because I was having side effect and had to be put on a different one called Zonisimade (which I am still currently taking). This is just my story about my Epilepsy if I was to write about all my medical problems, mental health, and learning disabilities you would be reading for a very long time.

I don’t know everything that everybody goes through in life, but after all I have been through and am or will go through no matter what someone is or has gone through and no matter how stupid it may seem I try to be there for them, understand, and have patience for them. Without God, my friends and family, health care providers, and organizations being there for me and helping me when I need it, life would have been so much different for me for the worst. Not sure if this is everything about my Epilepsy, but this is everything that I know and remember. I hope the person reading this can find hope and never give up on their challenges (whatever they may be). This is my about me story.