Epilepsy

I recommend speaking with a physician with as much information as you can and also finding a support group (rl or online) for parents. They would be able to give you a good idea of what you are looking at.That said, I have a good friend who's son is epileptic. He has social, emotional and educational delays because of the effects of his seizures and his medications. He misses a week of school every couple months for testing. They are trying to map his seizures for future surgery. They struggle with the school because it's not seen as a disability and they don't want to give accommodations to a kid who is fine one day and not the next.But, epilepsy is different in each kid. The type my son was tested for was very different and the kind his friend has is different as well. That's what it's best to ask medical professionals and parents for epileptic kids, IMHO.Good luck with your match.

My daughter has epilepsy technically. All epilepsy means is that she has seizures. Most of the time with my DD its an unremarkable issue. She takes lots of strong meds but the effects of the meds don't make her function any lower than she already does. Let me put it this way, she HAS epilepsy. But she HAD a stroke. The stroke is the real problem. Whether epilepsy is static or could get worse or better over time very much depends what the epilepsy is from. It almost always gets worse during puberty and then meds get adjusted and you get stabilized again once puberty is over. Epilepsy can be a huge deal or bascially no big deal at all. My DD had about 1 seizure a year on meds until her first stroke and then maybe 1 a week (not at all scary, not sure most would even know it was a seizure). And then she had a second stroke and had a year with almost no seizures and then they kept getting worse, to the point where she was probably having 100 little ones a day and a couple of big ones a week. This affected her and our life a lot. Everything was a safety issue. You couldnt walk away from her even for a second. We now have them back under control (they were thought to increase because of scar tissue from the stroke forming and puberty) and we get about 1 fairly big one a week. I guess for list of questions I would ask, what do the seizures look like. Is there more than one kind. How many of each a day/week/month. Does she require rescue meds (thats a sign that they are giant life threatening ones). What prevantative meds is she on and how long has she been on the same dose (that will give you a good idea of stability of issue). What is the cause of the issue (shaken baby, genetic, recent head injury etc. . .) You could also ask that a copy of her most recent EEG be sent to your neuro. Depending on your access to medical care and the severity of the issue, with this information, you will have a better ability to make an informed decision. Congrats on your match!

Just re-read your post. I am sorry but there is no way you can adopt a child with epilepsy without them giving you access to a full medical report. No way. Its a highly variable condition. Like cerebral palsy. It can mean you will grow up to be a lawyer how has a barely noticable limp or it could mean that you will be a total care person your whole life and never eat, toilet, walk, or live independantly. I would be willing to move forward if they give you more information about what the "epilepsy" looks like but I would not agree to the match until you had full medical information.

That's pretty much what my husband and I decided on after speaking with someone who has a child with epilepsy. We know that the child isn't total care at this point, but I do not know how debilitating the seizures are. I'm compiling my list of questions, but I know it's unlikely they will be able to answer them.