Teagan’s Story:
Her Battle With Epilepsy
By Talia Jager
Teagan’s Story: Her Battle With Epilepsy
Talia Jager
Copyright 2011 by Talia Jager
ISBN 978-0-9836164-1-2 (eBook)
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Acknowledgements
I would like to once again thank my family who understands dinner might be a little late because I’m in the middle of a chapter.
I’d also like to thank my friends who supported me throughout the book: Donise, Laurie, and Leslie.
Cover by Streetlightgraphics.com
For more information on epilepsy visit https://www.epilepsy.com
https://www.causes.com/causes/187946-charlis-cause-for-infantile-spasm-west-syndrome/
Dedication
This book is dedicated to sweet, beautiful Charli.
May a cure for epilepsy be found soon.
Chapter One
I stood frozen in front of the two-story brick building. My feet felt as if they were stuck to the sidewalk. To me, the building looked enormous from the street. I didn’t want to go in, and yet, I knew I had to. I fought back the tears and slowly started walking towards it.
Over the door, in big, white letters it read: NORTHSIDE HIGH SCHOOL. Teenagers swarmed around the door and on the front lawn near a flagpole. The flag flapped in the wind high above their heads.
My mother had sheltered me from all this. Many times I hated her for it. Now, I could only wish this was all a nightmare. Maybe I’d wake up any minute and be back at home with her. But, it didn’t happen. I didn’t wake up because this was real.
Reaching the front door, I pulled it open. The weight of the door surprised me; I hadn’t expected it to be so heavy. I went in and spotted the office to the right, enclosed in glass. I walked through the open door. “Can I help you?” An older lady with obviously dyed, black hair asked.
I swallowed. “Yeah, my name is Teagan Kavanagh. I’m starting here today.”
She picked through a pile of folders. “Ah, yes, right here. The guidance counselor has your schedule. Their office is right over there.” She pointed across the hall. “Ask for Mrs. Tavi.”
“Thank you,” I said and stepped back into the hallway. I let out a deep breath. Step one done. Onto step two. I walked into the guidance office. It was much bigger than the main office. A bookcase full of college books took up one entire wall. “I’m here to see Mrs. Tavi.” I told the lady at the front desk.
“What’s your name, Dear?” she asked, her voice thick with a Spanish accent.
“Teagan Kavanagh.”
Her nameplate read: Mrs. Torres. She picked up the phone. “You have a student up in front. You’re welcome.” She hung up. “She’ll be right out.”
Seconds later, a lady with light brown hair appeared. “Hello Teagan. Come on back.” She led me to her office. The walls were covered with letters from students, some kids’ drawings, and pictures of what I assumed were her family. “Please sit down.”
“The office told me to pick up my schedule from you,” I told her. I really didn’t want to talk. But, I had a feeling she wanted me to.
“We’re glad to have you here. Of course, we’re sorry about the death of your parents,” she said, putting on her thin-rimmed glasses and looking over my file. I nodded. “I understand you have been home schooled.”
“Yes.”
“Because of your epilepsy?” She looked up.
I looked away, my eyes moist. “Yes.”
“There’s nothing to be ashamed of, Teagan.” Her hazel eyes seemed to search my face. “I understand if you don’t want to talk about it now,” she smiled sweetly.
“It’s just hard.” I bit my bottom lip.
She patted my hand. “You did well on the placement tests you had to take. You are right where you should be, if not more advanced. Do you have any certain subjects you’d like to take?” she asked, handing me a tissue.
I shrugged. “I’m not really sure. I like most of them.”
“Okay. Is there anything you don’t like?”
“The boring stuff.”
She laughed. “Well, I’m sure every subject can get boring.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Do you have any friends here?”
“A couple. I had friends on the street where… where I used to live.”
“Good. It has to be difficult coming here in your junior year.”
I nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.”
“I hope you can make friends easily and the students here treat you well. If you have any problems, please come see me.”
“Thank you.”
“Do you have a lot of seizures?”
I nodded, dabbing my eyes. “That’s why they kept me home.”
“You’re on medication, correct?”
“Yes. It helps some, but not enough.”
“This worries you, doesn’t it?” she asked.
“Sure, I could have one at any time. Nobody here knows me, how are they going to react when I have one? Will I make any friends at all?” I immediately regretted my outburst.
“I’m sure you will. We’ll figure it out. I’m going to walk you over to the nurse’s office. I want her to meet you. By that time your ‘buddy’ will be here. She is in some of your classes can take you around and help you out,” she told me.
“Okay.”
Mrs. Tavi led me out of the office into the crowded hallways. Homeroom would begin soon. A few kids looked at me, probably wondering who I was. I tried to smile or nod or say hi. I didn’t know what to say or how to act around all these other kids. The nurse’s office wasn’t too far. Mrs. Tavi walked in and introduced me, “Mrs. Becker, this is our new student Teagan.”
“Yes, yes, of course.” She smiled. Her round dark eyes looked me over. “I read the file. You have epilepsy.”
“Yes.”
“I see that you are on Depakote and Topamax?” she asked, flipping her long, dark hair back.
“Yes.”
“How well does that work for you?”
“It doesn’t.” I had to keep from laughing.
“So you have breakthrough seizures?”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
“Are they grand mal?”
“Usually.”
“You also have petit mal episodes?” It was more of a statement than a question.
“Yeah.” I nodded getting bored of the questions. “Actually, they usually call them absence seizures and tonic-clonic seizures,” I corrected her.
“Right.” She nodded, making a note in my file. “How often do they happen?”
I knew she was just doing her job, but I hated answering all this. It was probably a good thing my parents kept me home. I’d go nuts if I had to explain to everybody. Sighing softly, so I wouldn’t upset anyone, I answered, “It varies. Sometimes they happen a couple days a week, sometimes I go a couple weeks without one. Sometimes more, sometimes less.”
“Wow. The doctors can’t do anything?”
“Not really.”
“Do you go to the hospital when you have a seizure?”
“Only if they’re really long or I hit my head,” I told her. “Something requiring medical attention. Otherwise, I just do my thing. I come out of it and go to sleep for a while.”
“Okay, well, I will make sure all of your teachers are aware of this. Maybe we’ll get lucky and you won’t have one while you’re h
ere.”
Yeah right, I thought.
The bell rang just as Mrs. Tavi and I got back to the guidance office. We went inside. “Ah, Madalyn. Thanks for coming down. This is Teagan, your buddy.”
“Hi.” She smiled at me. Madalyn’s chocolate brown hair was pulled back in a big clip. She wore some makeup, not a lot, but more than just foundation and lipstick. “It’s nice to meet you.”
“You too.” I smiled, hoping she really was nice and wasn’t just putting on a show for the guidance counselor.
“Here you go.” Mrs. Tavi handed both of us a copy of my schedule. “You’ll see that you are in many of the same classes or right near each other.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome. Come on back during your study hall and I’ll get you set up with a locker and anything else you need.”
I nodded and left with Madalyn. “We’re in the same homeroom,” she told me. “Then we have first period, English together and a couple other classes. Homeroom is this way,” she led the way. “Where are you from?” she asked.
“Here.” I didn’t want to totally make stuff up.
“But, you didn’t come to this school?”
“No, I went elsewhere,” I said.
She looked at me like she was expecting more, but then she looked down the hall. “It’s the second room from the end.”
We continued walking. ‘Thanks, Madalyn.”
“You can call me, Maddie,” she said. “Teagan is a unique name.”
“Yeah, it’s a family name. My parents are from Ireland.”
“Oh yeah? Like they immigrated?”
I nodded. “Yeah. My brother and I were born here, but the rest of my family is in Ireland.”
“That’s neat.” She smiled. “Here we are.”
I took a deep breath and walked into the room. Here goes nothing. Please God, please don’t let me have a seizure today, I pleaded. Maddie walked up to the teacher. He was very tall with grey hair and a short beard. “Yes, Miss Kembel?”
“This is Teagan Kavanagh. She’s new here.”
“Oh! Welcome Miss Kavanagh. There are a few empty desks in the back row. Pick one,” he said, motioning to the back.
“Thanks.” I hurried past the kids who were staring at me and sat down. Maddie sat down in the second row and started talking to some girls near her. Even though many people were looking at me, nobody said anything. I didn’t mind. I didn’t know how to answer their questions. I didn’t want anyone to think I was weird quite yet. I knew it would happen eventually. Once I had an episode in school, people would know.
The principal came on the loudspeaker and asked us to stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. After the morning announcements, the teacher took attendance, and the bell rang.
Maddie walked over to me and said, “English is just down the hall.” I nodded following her out. “The teacher is really great.”
We walked in the room. The desks were arranged in a half circle with the teacher’s desk at the mouth of the circle. Maddie walked up to the teacher who was sitting at her desk. “Mrs. McGee?”
She looked up. Her face was smooth, her lips thin, and her eyes sparkled. “Good morning, Maddie. How can I help you?”
“This is Teagan Kavanagh, she’s new to the school,” she introduced me.
Mrs. McGee shifted her attention to me. “Well, hello. It’s nice to have you here. Do you enjoy English?”
I nodded. “Yes, Ma’am.”
She smiled. “Please, call me Mrs. McGee. Ma’am sounds so old.”
I nodded. “Okay.”
Her long brown hair fell over her shoulders as she looked down. “I have a couple extra desks. We can put one at either end of the row. Do you have a preference?”
“No. Either one will be fine.”
“Okay.” She got up and pulled over a desk into the half circle. “There you go. Let me get you a text book.”
I sat down at the desk. Maddie sat at hers as more kids dwindled in. She was only two down from me. “You have math next with Mr. Adams. He’s okay, but he’s tough. I’m next to you in a different class. Then we’ll be in the same computer class, lunch and study hall,” she told me.
I smiled. “Great!” I tried to sound enthusiastic when I really just wanted to go home. Just to curl up on the couch sounded like a dream.
The bell rang and more kids flew into class. Mrs. McGee looked up. “Be on time tomorrow!” she warned them. “Here you go, Teagan. Write your name in it and cover it please.”
I nodded. “Thanks.”
I saw the people looking at me. “We have a new student in class. This is Teagan. Please make her feel welcome,” Mrs. McGee said. I smiled again trying to show I was normal.
English class was good. They were going over a book they had just finished reading and the teacher assigned a new one. She also gave out spelling lists and vocabulary words. “The test is Friday, study them. Next Monday, you will have the test on the first five chapters of the book.”
When the bell rang, Mrs. McGee dismissed the class. “Teagan, could I speak with you a moment please?”
“Sure.” I got up.
“I’ll wait for you outside,” Maddie said.
“Thanks.”
I went up to the teacher’s desk. “I got a memo about you.” She smiled. “I didn’t want to say anything in front of Maddie or anyone else. You’ve been home schooled for up until now?”
“Yes.”
“Usually the school doesn’t tell the teachers the medical problems of their students unless it’s extremely important. In your case it was very important for all of us to know. I understand you often have seizures?”
“Yeah.” I nodded.
“It says you have both absence seizures as well as tonic-clonic?”
“Mhmm.” I was thankful someone knew at least some of what they were talking about.
“If you miss something in class, please let me know, I will go over it with you.”
“Thank you.”
“My sister has epilepsy. Hers is controlled though. I don’t think she’s had any episodes in years.”
“I wish that would happen with me.” I sighed.
She nodded understandingly. “I’ll let you go now. You should make sure all of your teachers read the memo and know what’s going on. If you have an episode in class, not all of us will notice, so you may have to come on up later on and tell us.”
“That’s really great of you. I appreciate it.” I smiled.
“Go on now.” She looked back down at her books.
I met up with Maddie in the hall. “What was that about?” she asked.
I shrugged. “Just a couple getting to know you questions.”
“Hey Maddie.” A hot looking guy smiled at her.
“Hey,” she said back. We had to go upstairs for the next class, math. Math didn’t thrill me. I could do it, but I didn’t like it. Maddie said hi to some more people on our way. More people looked at me, but nobody said anything. Maybe they all knew about my illness. Maybe that’s why nobody would talk to me. No, I dismissed that idea. The school could get in trouble if they released that information to the students.
“Here’s your class.” She stopped at a door. “Mine is right there.” She pointed next door. “I’ll see you afterwards.”
I went into the class and introduced myself. Mr. Harmon was an older man. The wrinkles covering his forehead made him look stern, but he was nice enough to find me a seat and give me a book. “I hope you can get your place and keep up with us,” he said.
I nodded. “Sir, did you get the memo about me?” I asked quietly as kids were starting to come in.
“Yes, but no excuses in this class. You do the work or you fail.”
“Of course. I just meant that if I have an episode here in class… could I come to you afterwards and see what I missed?” I tried to ask it like Mrs. McGee had put it.
He looked up at me. “Well, I suppose if that was necessary…”
The bell rang. “Please take your seat.”
I nodded and sat down. A girl with dark black hair sat next to me, “Hey.”
I smiled. “Hey.”
“You new?” she asked.
“Yup,” I said back.
“Tough to be thrown in here.”
I nodded. “Yeah.” She had black fingernail polish on and a lot of dark make-up. Her clothes were black too. My mother would have called her a “Goth girl”. She seemed friendly though. “How is this class?” I asked.
“Boring. Harmon picks on me all the time because of the way I look. He doesn’t think I’m smart. I always get him though, because I answer correctly and that makes him mad,” she told me with a smirk on her face.
I laughed. “I’m Teagan,” I introduced myself.
She scoffed. “Cute. I’m Eve.”
The teacher started class. He did go fast, but the work wasn’t as hard as he made it out to be. He did call on me a couple times and I answered his questions. He seemed quietly impressed.
Afterwards, Maddie met me in the hallway. “How did it go?”
“Not bad. Where to?” I asked.
“Back downstairs and to the other wing. This is a longer walk,” she told me. “Are you starting to figure out where everything is?”
“A little. It shouldn’t take me too long.”
“So, were you into any clubs at your old school?” she asked.
“Um… no. I used to take music lessons, but I stopped. I didn’t really get a chance to get into anything else,” I told her.
“Well, if you want to get involved, I’m sure there are clubs that would like to have you.”
“I don’t think I’m real talented at anything,” I said. I had so many other issues to deal with that, taking on a hobby, joining a club, those weren’t in the plans.
“Well, just in case.”
“Thanks.”
Chapter Two
Computer class was pretty easy. I knew my way around a computer. The teacher was very nice. She had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. After class, she walked up to me, “Welcome Teagan. That is such a great name.”
“Thank you, Ms. Nerick,” I responded.
“If you need anything, let me know,” she said. “Anything.”
I knew what she was getting at. I nodded. “I will, thank you.”
Maddie led me to study hall. “Mr. Ping, this is Teagan Kavanagh, she’s new here. Mrs. Tavi wanted to see her during study hall today.”
“Ah, yes. That’s fine, you both may go,” he said, stroking his long, dark beard.