Archives > February 1, 2009

How I Overcame My Reluctance To Start

By Arlene Martell

Hi everyone, Arlene here.

James asked me to write an article about my early reluctance to build my first website; EpilepsyMoms.com. And it's not hard to do because I remember how resistant I was to the idea.

Even though I had watched James successfully publish many websites I had never paid that much attention to the details of just exactly how he did it.

And now, here he was urging me to build a website from scratch in order to let students of his new training look over our shoulders as he coached me.

Although I had the idea for about 2 years I didn't think I had the time.  And I'll admit I had a certain amount of "fear of failure".

I had written and published an eBook about my challenges with my oldest son, Adam, who was diagnosed with epilepsy and had thought that a website offering resources would be a great idea.  During research for my eBook I had accumulated mountains of data which was just sitting there in binders.

And thought, wouldn't it be great if other moms could avoid going through what I had gone through.  But, I was busy, too busy I thought.  But how wrong I was!

It's now my pride and joy.

I have a chat forum that's visited from moms, dads and grandparents from around the world. I publish a regular epilepsy podcast and have interviewed world experts on the subject by phone, including Jim Abrahams, founder of Charlie Foundation and Dr. Paul Swingle, Ph.D., F.C.P.A., R.Psych.

Almost daily I receive email from Mom's who have felt supported by my website.

Recently a mom from Pennsylvania had written "....Everything I read is so doom gloom! Thank You! Thank You! for sharing your story! ...I am so grateful for you putting it out there for all to hear!"

Within a week, Julie was ordering passports and had made the decision to come to Vancouver for 3 weeks of Neurotherapy treatments with Dr. Swingle. She really feels this is a last resort as her neurotherapist is threatening to drop her son as a patient because she refuses to put him on more medications.

I hear similar stories all the time. By simply telling my own story of the treatments we did for Adam that were so successful, I am able to reach out to other parents and let them know some alternative treatments exist that they may never have heard of before.

Here's the email Julie sent

Hi Arlene,

I am excited that I found your site. I need some new hope for my son....
Christopher is 8.5. Seizures (generalized) started out of the blue at 4.5 yrs. He has been on the ketogenic diet for 3.5 yrs. He has never been seizure free for more than a week or so on the diet. It's still a huge improvement from where he was before the diet. My concern is is that my son has never had any fine tuning of the diet in the 3.5 on it. He has had almost every rare side effect from the diet. At the present time he is malnourished and weighs less than a year ago. I am looking into changing centers and finding a fresh set of eyes for my son. I refuse to add Frisium and Lamictal that our neurologist is pushing. This neuro had promised he would never put him on another drug ever again. This is all he has to offer my son and this needs to be my exit call....Thank goodness I now have a pediatrician who is hands on and wants to turn every stone to get rid of my sons seizures for good.....This is where we are at right now. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! -- Julie, PA

I could not imagine NOT having my own website so that in my own small way I can make a difference.

If you, too, have a good idea for a website, I'd suggest you take the first step.  I found that once I got started it became easier to continue.  And with James coaching you every step of the way, it's almost guaranteed you'll succeed if you do the work required.

All the best,

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