November 2025 Newsletter

NEAM is Here

November is here and that means so is National Epilepsy Awareness Month (NEAM)! Help spread awareness by using your voice to share your story, encourage individuals and organizations to become Seizure First Aid Certified, follow and share our Facebook and Instagram pages, and attend EFDE programs and events. To commemorate NEAM, join us for our Friendsgiving celebration and 9th Annual Delaware Epilepsy Conference, and watch for buildings throughout the state to be lit in purple for epilepsy. Be sure to stop by any of these locations while they are lit in purple, snap a picture, then post and tag EFDE on social media: Legislative Hall in Dover, Georgetown Circle in Georgetown, Avenue North in North Wilmington, and Carvel State Building in Downtown Wilmington. If you know of other buildings that could possibly be lit in purple, please let us know and we will reach out to them. Together, we can raise awareness and create a supportive community where no one faces epilepsy alone!

Just a Few Weeks Away

The Epilepsy Foundation of Delaware will host its 9th Annual Delaware Epilepsy Conference on Saturday, November 22. This year's theme is Epilepsy Treatments and Management, and topics include Treatment Landscape, Ketogenic Diet, Epilepsy Surgery, Occupational Therapy for Epilepsy, and Patient Employment Rights. The event will take place at the John H. Ammon Medical Education Center at Christiana Care, Newark, Delaware. Registration and parking are FREE and a Continental Breakfast will be provided. For more details and to register, click here: 

 Attention Students

Seize Your Future Foundation is a nonprofit organization dedicated to empowering individuals living with epilepsy by providing resources for success  and scholarships to students pursuing higher education at accredited universities or trade schools. Through these scholarships, their foundation continues its mission to support students living with epilepsy as they pursue their educational and career goals. Scholarship applications are officially open. Click here for more information and to apply: 

Gals Night a Success

A big thank you to everyone who attended EFDE's event with Gals That Give! It was an enjoyable evening filled with delicious food, fantasitc prizes and memorable fun. Special thanks to our warrior, Teagan, who shared her epilepsy journey and received a standing ovation from the crowd. Thanks also to the many donors who contributed items, gift cards or funds to create 65 awesome baskets. We are grateful for the incredible support for our epilepsy warriors throughtout Delaware! For more photos, click here: 

Thank You for Being a Friend

We are thrilled to share that EFDE raised an incredible $652 thanks to the generosity of everyone who supported the "Friends Helping Friends" fundraiser. These funds will be beneficial in subsidizing EFDE's programs and services. We hope you enjoyed your shopping day and we look forward to next year!

Do You Know About the Combined Federal Campaign?

CFC is the world's largest and most successful annual workplace charity campaign. Pledges made by Federal civilian, postal and military donors support eligible nonprofit organizations. If you are a Federal employee or retiree, please consider making a gift to the EFDE through CFC's "Your Gift, Their Future" campaign using our charity code #27629. Your support will go a long way in assisting our epilepsy warriors throughout Delaware!

Greatful for Your Support

Thank you to everyone who has made a gift to the 2025-2026 EFDE Annual Fund. For those unfamiliar with our annual fund, it is a critical source of revenue and provides funding for all of EFDE's educational events, support programs, seizure first aid trainings, our community outreach, and our advocacy efforts throughout the state. Thanks to your kindness, we are able to provide all of our services and resources at no charge to our community.

A big THANK YOU to all who donated in October:   

Brian Bartley - Shirley Franklin - Mary Jane Cole - George Schurr

Don’t see your name? Make your gift today and join this dedicated group of supporters.

Saving Lives One Training at a Time

The Epilepsy Foundation of Delaware was pleased to present Seizure First Aid Training to the following organizations during the month of October:

Delaware Correctional Officers - Bright Kidz Learning Center - Delaware State Police Probation & Parole Officers - Making a Difference Conference - Dental Hygienist Students at Delaware Technical Community College - New Castle County Police Academy

If your workplace or school would benefit from Seizure First Aid Training, contact us to schedule your FREE Zoom or in-person course. 

Meet Natalie Di Sabatino Graef....

Diagnosed at age 7 with Absence Seizures, now has tonic-clonic.

My Journey to Motherhood: The Power of Self-Advocacy with Epilepsy
For years, I let my epilepsy diagnosis define my body as a source of failure. My body, specifically my brain, had failed me, and a deeply painful comment from a former partner cemented this belief early on: he told me he never wanted children with me because he was worried they would have epilepsy, too, something he considered bad or shameful. This belief became a heavy weight I carried, a quiet resentment toward the very part of me that was meant to sustain life. When I met my husband, the desire for motherhood became real, but the fear resurfaced. I pursued genetic testing to understand the likelihood of passing on my epilepsy. The results were inconclusive, the decision remained ours. I also carried a deep resentment that, because of my condition and medication, I needed to take Folic Acid—a necessity to prevent a higher risk of neural tube defects like spina bifida. This felt like yet another failure I had to mitigate before even trying to conceive. When I finally conceived my daughter, Olive, I was immediately categorized as a high-risk pregnancy. Coupled with being at an advanced maternal age, and struggling with my weight due to seizure medication and polycystic ovarian syndrome (PCOS), I felt that familiar sense of bodily failure return. The anxiety was relentless. Having experienced a miscarriage the year before, every day of the pregnancy felt like waiting for the other shoe to drop. Mentally, I was struggling. Physically, I was struggling. Something as simple as brushing my teeth made me gag! I was constantly sick; I needed to eat every hour to stave off morning sickness. This put me in a constant, agonizing battle against a lifetime of diet culture and weight judgment, compounding my stress.

Finding My Voice at Work
My journey required me to shift from passive acceptance to active self-advocacy. The first major decision I made was to reassess my career. I was in volunteer and event management, which meant long days, heavy lifting, and irregular eating habits—a physical toll I couldn’t sustain during a high-risk pregnancy. I made the tough decision to switch roles within my company, moving into a position in executive communications. The transition itself was stressful, but my leadership was incredibly understanding. I was able to sleep as much as I needed, even during the day, and the work, while important, was a much lower physical and emotional lift than my previous role. This decision was a critical act of self-care; I proactively created an environment where my health came first. The true test of my advocacy came when preparing for Olive’s arrival. The company’s parental leave policy offered 16 weeks paid leave for the “primary” parent and only two weeks for the ”secondary” parent. Since my husband also worked there, we were distraught. Two weeks was simply not enough bonding time for him, and critically, it was not enough support for me. As a new mother with epilepsy and a high-risk birth, I needed his presence for my and Olive’s safety. Recognizing that this policy had not considered the unique needs of families like ours, I didn’t stay quiet. I emailed the EVP of HR to share my story, advocating not just for myself, but for every employee navigating complex health or family dynamics. It was a terrifying step, but a necessary one to ensure safety and equity.

Advocating for the Birth I Needed
My advocacy wasn’t just corporate; it was deeply personal, extending right into my healthcare. Giving birth is perhaps the most physically demanding event a woman will ever experience, and I needed a clear plan to protect myself from a seizure during labor. A month before my due date, my neurologist canceled my appointment fifteen minutes before, with no plan for the delivery itself. This was the third time in a row this had happened. I had to firmly advocate for myself and demand a detailed discussion about my birth plan with another provider, what medication adjustments were necessary, what protocols the hospital should follow, and how I could navigate labor safely as a person with epilepsy. This entire journey, from that initial cruel comment to successfully holding Olive in my arms, was a forced awakening. I stopped resenting my brain for what it couldn’t do and started celebrating my voice for what it could do. I learned that my responsibility is not just to manage my condition, but to be an advocate for myself and for the countless other women with epilepsy who deserve safety, support, and the joy of motherhood. Even when Olive was born with a small, external sign—a tiny hole in a dimple with a tuft of hair on her lower back, a potential indicator of a tethered cord or spina bifida—the fear was immediate, but the realization was profound: my perfectly imperfect body, the one I had doubted for so long, knew exactly what it was doing all along when it brought Olive safely into the world. Olive is now a happy two year old.

Monthly Events & Programs

• Saturday, November 15, 2:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - EFDE's Second Annual Friendsgiving 
• Saturday, November 22, 8:30 a.m. - 9th Annual Delaware Epilepsy Conference & Art Show
• Sunday, December 7, 12:00 p.m. - 2:00 p.m. - EFDE's Third Annual Holiday Hot Chocolate Celebration
• Sunday, December 14, 3:00 p.m. - 4:00 p.m. - Quarterly Seizure First Aid Training - Virtual