Keith Graham

Three years ago, I had a series of seizures and had to be heavily medicated. Nobody was able to figure out why I had these seizures. Every doctor that I talked to told me variations on “Damned if I know”. My diagnosis was “Partial Complex Seizure Disorder”, which is a catchall for seizures that can’t be localized or explained by injury or tumor. My brain is clear, so I just have seizures for some reason which cannot be pinpointed.

The good news is that I haven’t had a seizure since I’ve been taking my pills. The bad news is that seizure medication works by slowing down your brain’s reaction time. I was severely slowed down. I had short term memory loss, “tip of the tongue” syndrome, and I have lost about 30 or 40 IQ points. I can’t write programs. I can’t write stories. I fell down the stairs several times and trip over things, all the time.

I have nagged my Neurologist to find me a medication that lets me function the way that I used to. I have been taking a pill, now, for about a year, that is pretty good. I have been slowly and carefully experimenting with reducing my dosage. The doctors don’t like me doing this, but I can’t stand the status quo. I am down to a little over half of the recommended dosage.

Before I had the seizures, I would have occasional feelings of a loss of the moment. I would suddenly realize that, for the last minute, I had lost all thought. This is what I think is a mini-seizure, and a precursor to a full-fledged flop around on the floor seizure. Since I have been reducing my dosage, I have not had any indication or any clue of a problem.

Today, I feel good. I have started writing again. The other day, I wrote a computer program. I reconfigured my home Web Servers, which is not a trivial task. I think that the old Keith is mostly back.

I started working on my two unfinished novels. I have finished three short stories. They aren’t great, but they aren’t half bad.

I reworked and republished my Anthologies. I put together a new collection of short stories with 18 stories and published on Amazon.

I have been practicing playing harmonica and I think I am getting much better.

Wish me luck.