Newly Diagnosed and Trying to Process

Mica, I was diagnosed with exactly the same thing; the exception being I also had grand male seizures. I was 25 at that time. I am also a teacher, elementary. I unfortunately had a seizure in my first grade classroom one morning. This was all in 1977. I was put on a medical leave.
I was also labeled with anxiety because my partial seizures had the same symptoms and doctors were quick to want to have an answer, even if it wasn't the correct one. Mayo Clinic quickly changed my medical situation and my teacher's union saved my job. Today there are discrimination laws and I believe less discrimination. You mention you are oversea so I can't speak to that.
At first I had the "stigma" problem, especially with school officials. It was hard and took a couple of assignment changes to fix this. I then actually had parents tell me they had requested me for their child because I had a history of seizures. Their children had seizures and they thought I would be best for their child because I had a better understanding of this than anyone else. I think this could be true for any child with any medical issue to have a teacher who can personally relate to medical issues in their daily life.
Can you search Google for "informational materials on seizures and your child's teacher"? Then share that with your administration. Ask them if it would be ok for you to share that with any parent if they should question anything, also, give your administration permission to do the same. If you have any notes, cards, etc. from families thanking you and showing their appreciation for your work bring that up also.
This reply is way long but this all helped me, along with good friends and fellow teachers. I know this is a difficult time and situation; it won't change overnight. Be strong and keep your head up high. This too shall pass.
Keep in contact.

Mica,bonnie,read your comments.I was never a teacher,but had grand mals since i was 5.i wish i had a teacher withepilepsy,Back then feltso much like i was only one with seizures.Back in 70s lost many jobs after a seizure,you could put seizures on application but most dont realize how bad one can be,then id get the gee we are sorry but you cant work here,even union places.Finally found company that accepted me would allow me days off torecover from grandmal and iagreed that i could not bid on certain jobs endedup there30 years,had allkinds ofsay and made good moneyglt a house and had3kids and 6 grandkids.If given a chance epilepsy shouldntmatter,but ifnot for the co pany i worked for ,who knows,right now iwas puton disability because of copd,you figure you have medicalthing beat then payback,atleast mykids allgrown up and have a greatwife..doctorput meon keppra now ,seizures beencomming back and lungs areamess becausr of copd.Had cancer of lungsin2014 in remission,now schedualed a mri of my head to test for cancer.At leastihave awife ad family ,whenyoung didnt think possible..

Hi Mica,
My name is Amanda, I am 34 years old and had my first seizure in March and have had a few since then. I was diagnosed with Epilepsy and my doctors are currently trying to figure out the reason I am having these seizures (as of now may be auto-immune but running more tests to eliminate other things). I too have been overwhelmed with this diagnosis as I have been healthy up to this point in my life. I am not a teacher but I am a vet tech at an animal hospital in MN, so far they have been really supportive. As of now there are a couple rotations that I am unable to work in but things have worked out. It's just a waiting game for me while I have more tests done. I joined this group because I didnt know anyone else with this condition. It's nice to know we are not alone. 🙂

Hi @micakath, I wanted to check in with you and see how you are doing. Amanda, Robert and Bonnie shared some useful stories about advocating in the workplace and stamping out the stigma of the diagnosis of epilepsy. You mentioned that you live and work overseas. Do you think the stigma is strong in the country where you work? How have you chosen to approach the issue with your employer and with the parents?

Mica hope your doing ok.Even now it kinda bugs me the way some people react to someone with epilpsy.Hope you stick with your job,like i said before a lot of young people,like me when i was young,would value being able to communicate with someone with epilepsy.As ayoung student feeling alone was one of the hardest parts about going to school as astudent.

Thank you so much for your story and your advice, Bonnie. I really, truly appreciate it. Thankfully, things with the school have been okay and we're working through this new information together. Now just trying to take things as they come in terms of dealing with it all. Hope you're doing well.

Thank you for sharing, Robert. I've been getting overwhelmed recently by thinking about how this is going to effect my life longterm, and it's refreshing to hear that moving forward is definitely possible. I'll be keeping my fingers crossed that your MRI comes back clean and you stay well.

Hi Amanda. I'm really glad to hear things with your work are going well and they're being supportive. (My sister is also a vet, so I have heard stories about how stressful that life can be!) I definitely understand the frustration of the waiting and not having answers -- that's what I'm currently going through. Looking forward to talking to you more about all this.

Thank you so much for following up, Colleen. Thankfully, after having several conversations with my colleagues and admin, things are seemingly in a good place. I've even been able to open up about it to a few of my older students who are having health issues of their own, so it's been able to bring me closer to my work community in some ways.

I live in Ukraine, where there is maybe a bit of a stigma, but for the most part, the host country nationals that I live and work with have been very supportive. The only difficulty now about living here is that the care is extremely limited, so I'm struggling to really move forward with anything.

So good to hear from you Mica. What a relief that your colleagues and employer were open-minded. I'm not surprised that opening up to a few students has benefited your relationships in your work community. Good for you for having the courage to be honest.