Hi my name is Cassadee Withers and I’ve suffered from chronic epilepsy and focal cortical dysplasia since I was 7 years old, I live with my parents as i am limited with a lot of things in my life, when I was little my seizures were grand mal and nocturnal and I was lucky to have maybe one a month so I was somewhat lucky I managed a fantastic childhood but as I grew older my seizures started to become more frequent although i missed out on a lot in my teenage years I managed to achieve vice-captain and earnt multiple awards this was all very unexpected due to the circumstances but that taught me lessons that being me is enough I realised the true meaning of friendship I lost a lot of friends because of my epilepsy but also gained some too so the ones I have I will forever cherish and be grateful for, I also had a job and I absolutely loved it was something I looked forward to i had to put my job on hold because my seizures became more aggressive and I have multiple types daily the longest one I had was 6 and half hours long, I know the inside of the hospital like the back of my hand and all the tests that come with it, I have been put into an induced a coma to make my seizures stop and to give my body a break I have had some really close calls but yet I’m still pulling myself together to the best of my ability, some of my seizures I pass out fall straight to the ground with absolutely no warning so I have a fair few bumps, bruises, broken bones, stitches etc from falling I now have helmets to prevent so much damage, I also have a support worker 5 days a week to help my family with my seizures most days it’s definitely a two man job and it’s hard when dad works so we just need an extra set of hands and just to keep me company, none of this would be possible if my parents and brother weren’t by my side every step of my journey good or bad my family has stuck by my side my family is the meaning of unconditional love, I started having wandering seizures and I was ending up on the road my parents kept the house as safe as possible it wasn’t until we met these amazing people Peter and Robynn Sleap from the Sleapys foundation and everyone else such amazing group of people they kindly paid for a safe and secure fence they were also kind enough to book us a motel room and take us to meet the Knights players and we were able to attend the game as well it was an amazing experience we really appreciate you guys and the continued love and support you guys share with us, I still live in fear some days and my anxiety is through the roof but I get up every day and appreciate the fact that I’m alive and that i have the best family in the world and the most amazing support system!
I definitely feel like if I didn’t have epilepsy, I wouldn’t be who I am today!! Epilepsy robbed me but I will never let it win I may have epilepsy, but epilepsy will never have me!!
