Reach Out & Teach Someone
Epilepsy Ontario Provincial Conference
hosted by Epilepsy Durham Region
by Naomi Hoffenberg, Co-op Placement Student from Thornhill Secondary School working at Epilepsy Ontario
Epilepsy Ontario's 12th Annual Provincial Conference was recently held at The Briars, at Jackson's Point, Lake Simcoe, hosted by volunteers and staff of Epilepsy Durham Region. On Saturday, October 19, 1996 there was a full day of workshops with six guest speakers addressing key issues of importance to people with epilepsy. The theme, Reach Out And Teach Someone, gave attendees an opportunity to learn more about epilepsy on a variety of topics: Do's and Don'ts of medication; Memory and Brain Damage; how to access EO's Web Site, just to name a few.
A wine and cheese party with kareoke on Friday evening helped people to unwind and get acquainted. A lot of hidden talent from the staff and volunteers of the local Epilepsy Chapters crawled out of the woodwork and a good time was had by all.
The personalized touch was felt by all guests as they received a personal door-to-door wake-up call both mornings, as well as a news-flyer with a recap of the weekend on Sunday morning.
Mr. Rod Sawdon, head of the Special Education Department, Fenelon Falls Secondary School, started the conference Saturday morning, addressing issues on Advocacy in the High School. He distributed a booklet that contained helpful advice, including the proper definition of a learning disability, which is a permanent disorder that shows up in five areas: visual, auditory, motor, organizational and conceptual. It affects learning to read, write or in math.
After a short break, neurologist Dr. Joseph Bruni of Wellesley Hospital in Toronto, spoke about another serious and important matter, Sudden Unexpected Death Syndrome in Epileptic Persons, (SUDEP). SUDEP accounts for 6-10% of deaths of persons with epilepsy. He pointed out that there some people have a higher standard mortality rate than others, in particular, children and males have the highest rates. Those who do not have an increased mortality rate, are people who have absence and idiopathic complex partial seizures.
Dr. O. Carter Snead III, talked about the Do's and Don'ts of Taking Medication. Dr. Snead is a Professor of Paediatrics and Medicine and Head of the Division of Neurology, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto.
He explained that when taking medication, drowsiness is not to be accepted. Antiepileptic drugs have an impact on the quality of life and sometimes do not allow people to enjoy life as much because they are drowsy.
Some don'ts when taking medication are: 1) do not stop "cold turkey" and 2) do not skip doses, or double up on doses for seizures and missed doses. Dr. Snead's advice is take the medicine on time, get plenty of sleep, and treat fevers aggressively. It is not right to accept a generic substitution without question, or drink while on anti-convulsant drugs.
Dr. Richard Wennberg, a neurologist from Toronto Western Hospital, spoke next about Memory and Brain Damage. He explained how memory loss is the most common complaint in epileptic patients. Older people with epilepsy often complain about memory loss, but actually, younger people with epilepsy seem to suffer from it more. Usually, partial seizures make a person more likely to suffer from memory loss, especially if they are on the left side of the brain.
Mr. Mark Setter, Barrister and Solicitor hosted a workshop on Power of Attorney and Wills. This presentation was of interest for vulnerable adults living with epilepsy.
The closing workshop of the day was hosted by Mr. George Stannous on How to Raise Funds in today's market place. This was very helpful for all the volunteers and staff, as we need to learn how to raise more funds for the much needed programs and services for people living with epilepsy.
The weekend wrapped up Sunday afternoon after the Provincial Executive Committee meeting. Each chapter gave an update on their current programs, services and events that they have been doing over the last year.
We would like to thank all the speakers for their time and contribution to making this year's conference a success! We would also like to thank all the volunteers and staff of Epilepsy Durham for their tremendous job on hosting the conference. The personal service and hospitality was excellent. We would also like to extend our sincere appreciation to Ciba Geigy, Hoechst Marion Roussel and Glaxo Wellcome for their generous support to this year's conference.
Good food, good service, a family atmosphere and a magical setting made this a terrific weekend for all who attended the conference at The Briars.
