Living Strong With Epilepsy

08/25/2026

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08/20/2026

I forgot I even wrote this. 💜

And today it was published on Social Health Network — one of the largest chronic illness communities in the world.

Sometimes the universe has better timing than we do.

I have lived with epilepsy since I was five years old. Nearly fifty years of seizures, limitations, lost independence, and the particular loneliness that comes from living with something most people do not understand.

For a long time I kept it quiet. I thought speaking openly would define me in ways I could not control — less capable, less professional, less whole. So I built walls around the hardest parts and tried to outrun them with achievements instead.

Then I told the truth. About the fifteen years I could not drive. About the seizure at work that got me terminated thirty minutes later. About the night at sixteen when my father kicked down a bathroom door and pulled me out of the water.

And people found me.

A stranger wrote to say they found my book at a Barnes and Noble and it saved their life. A parent wrote to say my story helped them recognize their child was having a seizure.

That is what happens when you stop performing the polished version.

Somewhere right now someone is sitting alone with the same diagnosis and the same fear, certain nobody could possibly understand. Your honest story gives them something medicine cannot.

It tells them they are not alone. 💜

Full piece is live on Social Health Network — https://bit.ly/4xcLJDq

👇 What is the part of your story you have been keeping quiet?

08/20/2026

What is one thing you wish people understood about living with epilepsy? 💜

07/21/2026

I just found out I am a 2026 Social Health Awards Finalist in the Creative Contributor category! 💜

For nearly 30 years, I have been turning my epilepsy journey into books, resources, and content that helps families feel less alone.

From Epilepsy You Are Not Alone — a bestseller for 30 years — to My Daddy Has Epilepsy and My Mommy Has Epilepsy — books that started as stick figures drawn on the floor for my own children after a seizure — every single thing I have created has been my way of saying:

You are not alone. You never have been.

I am so honored to be recognized alongside such extraordinary advocates. 💜

Winners announced August 19th at the virtual ceremony!

👇 Drop a 💜 in the comments if epilepsy has touched your life or someone you love.

07/15/2026

https://medium.com/advisor-magazine/i-knocked-on-my-new-neighbors-door-not-realizing-i-was-covered-in-blood-e685fed19bfc?sharedUserId=staceychillemi

If this story moves you — please hit the clap button and share it with a parent who needs to hear it today. You never know whose life you…

07/15/2026

https://medium.com/advisor-magazine/i-was-sixteen-years-old-and-drowning-in-my-own-bathtub-my-father-saved-my-life-1dea09b900fe?sharedUserId=staceychillemi

If this story moves you — please hit the clap button and share it with someone who has a person in their life who has stayed when they…

07/15/2026

https://medium.com/advisor-magazine/for-fifteen-years-i-could-not-drive-nobody-could-see-the-prison-i-was-living-in-31f4e04af625?sharedUserId=staceychillemi

If this story resonates with you — please hit the clap button and share it with someone who has ever felt imprisoned by something nobody…

06/20/2026

https://community.thriveglobal.com/the-shoebox-full-of-letters-and-the-email-that-changed-everything/

A shoebox full of 400 letters. A husband who refused to let me make excuses. And one email from a stranger in Barnes and Noble that I will carry with me forever.

06/20/2026

https://community.thriveglobal.com/the-colleague-who-stepped-over-me-and-what-it-quietly-started/

A shoebox full of 400 letters. A husband who refused to let me make excuses. And one email from a stranger in Barnes and Noble that I will carry with me forever.

06/18/2026

A shoebox full of 400 letters. A husband who refused to let me make excuses. And one email from a stranger in Barnes and Noble that I will carry with me forever.