Rise Unafraid

Janine takes us on a journey into the truth behind epilepsy. She writes poignantly about her 25-year cycle of suffering from seizures, the challenges she encountered along the way, and the surgery that ultimately gave her back her life. She reflects on how perseverance, ambition, and courage, unknowingly back then, were part of her resistance to accept defeat. Writing poetry and painting certainly saved Janine through the most trying of times. The arts became her form of therapy. She is blessed to have a lot of loving and supportive friends in addition to her parents Johnny and Norma, her sister Nadine, her extended family, and most notably her husband Dimitri and sons Joseph and Johnny. After visiting countless doctors and taking thousands of pills to try and control the disorder, none of them worked long-term. Janine's everyday living became difficult to navigate. She was then informed of a surgery that could potentially free her from her seizures. Naturally, it wasn't without risk, but the reward was so tempting that she had to try. The surgery was a success, and today Janine lives a seizure free life as a daughter, wife, and mother. Based on her lived experience detailed in this memoir, she aims to show there is life on the other side of epilepsy. In Rise Unafraid, she reveals that our power lies within us.