Every FND journey is different, and today I'm sharing Emmie’s. She’s been one of my closest friends for decades, and her strength, fire, and fierce determination never fail to inspire me.. and so many others. Through the toughest days, Emmie shows up, speaks out, and proves that FND might challenge you… but it doesn’t define you. It’s a privilege to share her words with you.
Heres her story.. in her own words.
Hey my name is Emmie I’m 38 & I have FND. It started when I was a child around 3-7 where I’d just start having vacant moments and had multiple brain tests and scans for my parents to be told I’d grow out of these “episodes”
When I was around 22 that’s when my life changed forever. I had my first actual seizure when I was out with friends in a night club courtesy of the strobes. I got rushed to hospital to be told I’ve just drank too much.
They kept happening to the point I went to the gp after spending a month of whoever to was with writing down everything that happened and even recording the seizures. I finally got referred to the neurologist and that’s when I got my diagnosis.
A few years of dealing with these “episodes” and people thinking im faking them I started experiencing the fatigue the brain fog the simple fact sometimes id be completely out of it the entire day unaware and unable to remember why I was where I was or not knowing who people are.
July last year I lost my mother. My symptoms got worse. The stress of this utter devastation caused my body to be in so much pain from seizing multiple times a day. I discovered the gym and you know what even on my bad days you’ll find me on the weights or in the pool doing a class as I refuse to let my condition take over my life. I’m still mobile I’m still alive let’s go champ ✌️ the pain after a work out is absolutely everything because it means I’m working my body and my body is still working.
Fast forward to today im living with daily absent seizures that aren’t ideal with an active 5 year old but im lucky I have a good support network where my friends muck in for school runs and drop off or even having my son over for dinner so my sons dad can finish work and not have to take time off work as that then had a knock on affect to my son. I will NEVER let my illness define me, I have my good days I have my bad days. I now enjoy the gym and have found an outlet for my grief. Bad days ruin my life BUT it doesn’t ruin ME.
Emmie
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I love reading these stories it shows that although we all suffer in slightly diffrent ways we all have ways to deal with the ceap that's thrown out way. Keep on fighting and lifting them weights so you can knock out the next idiot who suggests you might be faking it. Thanks for sharing.