By Mandy Oakham
Imagine having to wait nearly two years to find out what is wrong with your child.
Grovedale mother Sarah Murnane knows this frustration all too well as she watched for nearly two years her beautiful baby girl suffer from epileptic “absence“ seizures, as well as chronic jerking seizures.
As an aftermath of these seizures, sometimes her daughter Mahalia would suffer from falls, and sometimes she could lose her ability to talk for days after.
Sarah first noticed something was wrong with Mahalia when she was just five months old.
After rushing her daughter to Geelong Hospital, Sarah waited for a diagnosis. On examing the little girl, doctors could not provide a definitive answer.
This was the beginning of an incredibly exhuasting struggle for the Murnane family. It took a further 19 months, just before she blew out the candles on her second birthday cake, before the family were given a definite diagnosis for Mahalia’s condition.
Sarah explains that this was because Mahalia actually didn’t experience a seizure during the times she was in hospital and being tested.
“There are so many misconceptions out there about epilepsy and there is still actually some stigma out there as well because people are frightened of the seizures,“ Sarah said.
“I would just urge people if they think there is something wrong with their child just keep on going back and back to the doctors and keep on telling them they have to give you an answer.“
Life in the Murnane family is now a little more settled as planning is the key in the management of Mahalia’s form of epilepsy. And five-year-old big sister Layla plays her role as well keeping an eye on her little sister and alerting her mother if she sees any changes in her behaviour.
“Every child is different and you have to take medical advice, but in Mahalia’s case we are hopeful that she may have the type of epilepsy which means that she doesn’t need to take medication, and that eventually she may grow out of the seizures,“ Sarah said.
“But, of course, we have to manage the situation very carefully and put plans in place for anywhere that she is visiting like her child care centre.
“It used to be truly terrifying watching your child have a seizure and then watching as the seizure finished and just not knowing what was going to happen next.“
March is Epilepsy Awareness month, and this Sunday, 26 March, the Geelong palm trees in the city will be rocking their purple hues to remind people of the many facets of this complex condition.
