This is my story about Julia Horowitz

Finding Hope With Epilepsy In The Divinity of Christ

Julia Horowitz was 19 when she was diagnosed with Epilepsy. Since then, she had suffered over 50 seizures, including the fatal one in March 2022. After her first seizure episode, her parents, family members, and friends began to learn more about her diagnosis.

“There are really no words to describe how your mind and body feels after having a grand mal or tonic-clonic seizure. The debilitating pain and weakness in your arms and legs and the fatigue afterwards is often indescribable. Not having a clue of knowing who you are, where you are and how you got here is absolutely heartbreaking and agonizing. Then you gradually put the pieces in the puzzle together, one by one, only to find yourself overtaken by immeasurable emotions, pleading to be “normal”. It left me speechless. I sometimes find myself randomly bursting in tears because of all the trauma is just so much to take in all at once and process.”

When she failed to recover and didn’t seem to be responding to the medication, she was immediately transported by an ambulance to the children’s hospital in Spokane, Washington after suffering from a cluster of epileptic, tonic-clonic seizures on her college campus. A spinal tap was done, and then determined she had aseptic viral meningitis. In the PICU, she had several more clusters of debilitating seizures that would last from 30 seconds to 6 minutes. She then had IV Levetiracetam (Keppra) and ativan administered, and a 72-hour inpatient EEG was done. Later, the neurologist reported that Julia’s EEG revealed that she had grand-mal, complex partial, and absence seizures.

“There were times where people couldn’t even tell I was having one. But honestly, the last thing I wanted was for all of my friends, peers, and professors to witness my convulsions. It’s the feeling of guilt, shame, embarrassment that I shouldn’t have to feel in the first place because Epilepsy doesn’t define me at all; it is simply a part of who I am as a person who is capable of overcoming any challenge I am given. I’ve learned to accept that this is one of many challenges that I will be facing in my life for many years. While there will always be someone who may look at you differently for having an illness you can’t control, don’t ever let it get to you.” Julia says. “And of course, like any other human being, I have my ups and downs. But I know I will always come out stronger mentally, emotionally, spiritually, and physically than ever before. I can promise you that. I strongly believe epilepsy needs a CURE and I pray to God that one day there will be one for this complex condition. I thank everyone including my family, friends, and team of doctors who have supported me throughout my journey of battling with epilepsy and believing in me that I can get through it all; the battles I have faced and continue to face are so worth the fight of not giving up.”