This article has been shared by Shenaz Haveliwala, a person living with epilepsy in India.


 

IBE - International Epilepsy SupportThe COVID-19 outbreak has been a global scare. But, for me, coronavirus became serious only when the lockdown was announced. This mainly meant that I had to have my medicines in stock.

I had stocked two months of medicine, but then the lockdown kept extending, so I got really anxious. What if pharmaceutical companies shut down? I have Tablet Briviact in my prescription which is not manufactured in India, so I was really scared if logistics are hampered, things will be really difficult for me. The uncertainty was terrible.

Unfortunately, my seizures had become more frequent. My doctor’s prescription was going to expire in two months, these things were always on my parents’ and my mind. The government was very supportive, especially when it came to healthcare. We had medicines delivered to our homes, with online payment and medicine parcel left with the security, to avoid any human contact.  There were doctors and nurses working two-three times more time than their scheduled duty. That was assurance that even if I hurt myself during a seizure, there would be medical help.

I have a start-up, operating from home, so staying at home was not really new. But, I was not used to the full family being home at the same time for so long, so privacy was an issue.
But corona did give me time to connect with family members, learn their likes/dislikes. I had time meditate, pray. Now, I have gotten used to the new ‘normal’ and am very lucky to have the best family.