Raising an epileptic child can’t be easy, Epilepsy SA has said.

But after the initial shock, a family could build an understanding, loving and accepting environment in which the child could grow believing in their ability to succeed.

Centurion mother Louise Mollentze shared the story of how raising an epileptic son had changed her life for the better though it had been difficult in the beginning.

Mollentze said her son, a twin, first had a seizure at school in January 2016 aged 12.

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“I was quite dazzled and frightened with the call from the school, at the same time and couldn’t believe it. I rushed him to a nearby hospital.”

She said because it was the first, the family general practitioner at Medipark referred him to Unitas hospital.

Mollentze said the GP was concerned because there could be many reasons for the seizures and “some patients could experience a sudden drop in blood sugar levels or brain damage”.

“The EEG epilepsy test didn’t pick up any epilepsy but as the neurologist said, this did not mean he was not epileptic but rather another seizure was not expected any time soon,” she said, adding no blood sugar or cholesterol-related issues were picked up either.

“This is seemingly a good sign. It means he is just epileptic.”

Mollentze said a mother whose child was epileptic had told her that Wi-Fi or an electromagnetic wave (EMW) could trigger seizures.

She said the mother had told her that she’d heard a lot of children had started having seizures after their schools had installed Wi-Fi.

“My son started having seizures after the school’s Wi-Fi was activated.”

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A study of 180 4-week-old male mice by US National Centre for Biotechnology Information found that acute exposure to EMW may facilitate epileptic seizures irrespective of the length of time of exposure.

“This information might be important for patients with epilepsy. Further studies are needed.”

Mollentze said epilepsy, though a complex illness, could be managed.

She said she hoped sharing her experiences would get other people to be more open about the disease.

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