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how do i stop worrying about him?
Ok so by best friend (he also happens to be the boy I like) is epileptic. (Just as a little background, we're both 14 and freshman in high school.) He's had petite mal seizures in school before, but he just spaces out, and usually I'm the one who takes him to the nurse. And I never really worried about him. But roughly a week and a half ago, he had a grand mal seizure. he was screaming and spazzing out and foaming at the mouth. I was so worried about him. I knew that he had had grand mal seizures before, and he'd be ok, but ever since I saw him like that, everything he does makes me so worried. I've tried talking to him about it but he thinks he looks stupid when he has a seizure and so I guess he was embarrassed, and now he refuses to talk about it. And now he told me the other day that his medication might be damaging his liver. He's my best friend and I care a lot about him, but this constant worrying is driving me crazy. What should I do? All advice is appreciated.
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You are doing the best thing you can do for him and that is being there for him when he needs you. A grand Mal seizure is a scary thing to witness. What you need to know is what to do for him while he is having one. The worst thing that can be done for him is the wrong thing. If you haven't learned what the right thing to do for him is then you might want to find out.
Staying with him and calling 911 is one of the things you should do for him. If the seizure stops before the fire rescue team arrives stay with him and keep him comfortable until they arrive; then let them do what they know how to do. Go with him to the hospital as a friendly face of someone he knows is important. Since this probably can and will happen in school you probably will need written permission from both his and your parents to leave school and accompany him.
Most important is what to do for him while he is having a seizure. Their are certain things that should be done for anyone having a seizure and their may be specific things his doctor wants done for him. For that reason I am not going to say what you need to do. You should talk with his parents to find out exactly what needs to be done for him while he is having a seizure.
Being a good friend to him such as you are doing is very important. Yes he is embarrassed by his seizures. He shouldn't be, he has a medical problem just like a diabetic or someone with many other disorders that take time to be regulated with medication. Teenagers are harder to regulate with medication as they are growing and their bodies are constantly changing.
Stand up for him if people tease him or bully him for his medical condition and report them to a teacher or principal. Let him know that while he is sick and may be a little bit special in his needs, he is still a normal teenage boy. These are the best things you can do for him. His doctor will monitor his liver so that is something neither you or he really needs to worry about.
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Try not to worry (I know, I know, easier said than done).
Your friend is trying to live a normal life with occasional interruptions from his epilepsy, just as any person with a similar disorder does. When he's feeling fine, he wants to forget about it and just be a regular person. So talking about it or seeing people worry about him constantly kind of pushes him back into thinking about it against his will when he'd really rather be somewhere else.
Trust in his doctors to keep him alive and well. Trust in him to talk to you if there's anything he needs, or needs to talk about. I know it's scary to see someone in a situation like that, but you need to put that behind you. On your own, it may feel better if you do some research on epilepsy. People can live very long, full lives with it. In fact, my friend's little sister has it, and she's off to university soon, even though nobody thought she would make it there back when she was a little kid.
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