Epilepsy Talk
What was the closest you came to divulging your “dirty little secret”? | December 27, 2023
I have to admit that I got my job by lying.
Don’t ask, don’t tell. Anyway, it worked for me.
And it would have been bad for their insurance.
So one day, the copy machine outside my office caught fire.
Everyone exited the building. Except me.
I was out cold on my office floor, with the door closed.
Eventually, everyone returned. And I emerged, looking to make copies.
Bewildered, I asked my secretary where the copy machine was.
She looked at me like I had three heads.
I covered my “dirty little secret” by innocently explaining I was napping. (I’m a heavy sleeper.)
Saved again.
For the time being.
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Epilepsy Talk 
“Dirty little secret”
Doesn’t seem appropriate
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Comment by Susan — December 27, 2023 @ 9:52 AM
My boss, a state senator, had told me she understood that I have epilepsy when she hired me. She said she enjoyed my work as a journalist in her district for the previous five years. That all changed when I had a complex partial seizure in a downtown Boston restaurant during a lunch celebration.
She called me into her office and told me that I would be taking two weeks off. I explained that I was fine but tired. “You are an embarrassment to my office!” she yelled. She proceeded to tell me that she was married to “a big-time judge” and that she “planned to be governor.” When I said what she was doing was discrimination, her reply chilled me. “Your mother is dead. Who’s going to advocate for you?”
I went back to the office on Monday. No one except her attorney spoke to me. I was told to sit on the floor, out of sight. I spent my day cutting articles out of the newspapers I used to write for. I spent the next several weeks throwing up before work in a trash can in front of the State House. Then I went on sick leave and never came back.
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Comment by Mary Ellen Gambon — December 27, 2023 @ 10:28 AM
What a tragedy. And what a warrior you are.
To come out of that as an advocate for yourself and so many others is a triumph Mary Ellen.
I hope your state senator loses all of her lofty elections and rots in hell!
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Comment by Phylis Feiner Johnson — December 27, 2023 @ 10:44 AM
Thanks so much, Phylis! There was some karma to this story. The governor tried to promote her to a position in his administration that had not been filed in 35 years. People protested about the waste of money. She ended up retiring from the senate. I hear she lives on Cape Cod now, bitter and alone. I can’t help but be happy about that.
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Comment by Mary Ellen Gambon — December 27, 2023 @ 11:50 AM
Karma is a beautiful thing!
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Comment by Phylis Feiner Johnson — December 27, 2023 @ 11:57 AM
So sorry. Words cannot describe the anger this inspires. I’ve had some very public seizures, but thank goodness, nothing like this. For better or worse, I throw my disability on the table right away, cuz I’d rather not get the job offer if it factors into their decision (of course my unemployment status doesn’t speak well for my logic.
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Comment by Jeffrey Lee Hatcher — December 27, 2023 @ 10:59 AM
Jeffrey, you rock! It wasn’t until much later that I embraced who I was and subsequently became an advocate.
But I have to confess, it was a long time coming.
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Comment by Phylis Feiner Johnson — December 27, 2023 @ 11:04 AM
I have have had Epilepsy since I was 4 years old, today, I’m 75, and I have been working since I was 16, I never felt that my condiction was a no no, I went to school, up to complete my Master Degree, and I never mentioned at work my back with Epilepsy, for as my Epile6stated there has always existed a Stigma in reference to this. It’s existed for tjousands of years, one learns to live with it I’m an advocate for Epilepsy, and have written, translated brochures from English to Spanish, and participated in activities. Sent via the Samsung Galaxy S8+, an AT&T 5G Evolution capable smartphone
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Comment by elizabethramirez1948 — December 27, 2023 @ 12:36 PM
Elizabeth, you’re a great role model for anyone with epilepsy.
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Comment by Phylis Feiner Johnson — December 27, 2023 @ 2:37 PM