By Michelle Fiacco
I am the Co-Founder and CMO of A Hero for Epileptics. Not only do I oversee all the marketing work we are doing for the organization I started with my husband, Bruno Fiacco, but I also take care of Bruno as a wife and a caregiver. What does that mean for me? Well aside from the heavy load of work that this entails, I also have to see the daily seizures that Bruno endures as he is at a constant battle with epilepsy. It doesn’t care if we are eating dinner or at the movies or in the middle of traveling on a plane overseas. This also means that I am there to grab him when I can before a fall, clean up after food or a beverage is knocked to the floor, wash clothes that are covered in food and sometimes blood and also be there during and after a seizure.
When I talk about seizures, before I met Bruno, I have never seen one and thought the only seizure that those with epilepsy had were ones where they fell to the ground twitching and foaming at the mouth. Little did I know there are actually over 40 kinds! 40! And they include a spectrum of seizures that range from a day dreaming look to twitching hands and arms, to falling down. The real kicker is that my own husband has had many, if not all of the variations of seizures out there. He has at least 2-3 a day that are noticeable and another 20-30 that are the stare off into space kinds he fights off in his own head.
Can you imagine what he must go through? The sheer strength to keep going everyday even after seizures leave him bruised, cut and sore. I can’t even begin to fathom what he is going through and how he feels day in and day out, but I can say that from my viewpoint it’s not an easy situation, and I wouldn’t trade him for the world. He is my person. Epilepsy, seizures and all. I will be here to make our non profit successful (albeit slowly) and catch him when I can. I have seen so much in the way of seizures, but I also see how intelligent and strong willed Bruno is and as long as he remains fighting for his life, I will be a part of his team and the one cheering him on every. single. day.