Epilepsy usually comes along with a few other disabilities of the brain (ADHD, depression, anxiety, etc), which can make life with epilepsy more difficult. I'm just going to post here some basic resources that have helped me get by and/or saved me time and stress. I intend to have a series on this because having resources and help is so freeing.
First and foremost: Unfuck Your Habitat
Yes, there's obviously some swearing, so this may not be a resource for the easily offended or the delicate of sensibilities. But this tumblr (and the app--there's an app!) has helped me so much with cleaning and staying on top of chores. There's nothing else quite like it. It encourages taking small steps with cleaning every day (so stuff does actually get done), but discourages marathon cleaning sessions (so you don't wear yourself out and never want to clean again). It's really good for people who have ADHD like me and will wander around the house aimlessly doing several things at once but never completing any of them.
Next: Organizing Solutions for People with ADHD
This is a great book on reducing clutter by reducing what you own, finding a way of organizing that works for you, giving up perfectionism, and also staying on top of the mess. I honestly think it would work for anybody, not just people with ADHD.
Now that we've gotten our lives less messy, let's move on to food.
Food can be an issue for those of us with epilepsy. I love to cook, but I've also had doctors tell me that stovetop cooking can be really dangerous. And I've got to admit I really wouldn't like to burn myself by having a seizure while cooking. So I've made a few adjustments that have helped me continue to cook delicious food while maintaining a certain degree of safety.
First, I own three slow cookers. Yep, three. One was a gift from my parents and it's tiny and I honestly have no idea what to do with it, but I keep it around because it might make a great fondue pot in case I ever decide to make fondue or date someone who isn't allergic to dairy and would like to make fondue. The other two I got at a thrift store and they are enormous. I purposely got crockpots big enough that I could use them to cook a whole chicken because sometimes I like to cook whole chickens and making tons of food at one time means I'll always have food available when I really don't have time to cook. Also chicken is much less expensive whole, and I hate having to pay over a dollar a pound for anything. I'm downright stingy when it comes to paying for food.
Find a few meals you're good at cooking and think of variations on those meals. I can usually find chicken drumstick on sale at a local store for $.88/lb. I buy a few packages at a time, split them up into bags of three or four and freeze them. I can cook them in the crockpot with barbecue sauce until the meat comes right off the bone and use that for sandwiches. I can cook them in the crockpot with some herbs, remove the bones and add broth and noodles for soup. I can thaw them and add herbs and spices and cook them in the oven for about forty minutes at 400*, then 20 minutes on broil so the skin gets crispy (always check the internal temperature. Always). I can add cheese to that and make it extra awesome and delicious. I can add cheese and bacon and make everyone ever love me.
^^That's just chicken. Those are just meals using chicken.
I'd say to invest in a cookbook, but honestly there are so many recipes online that I don't think you need one. I have a few favorite cookbooks, but I barely use them anymore.
If you need to make some quick and easy meals, No More Ramen is the place to go. Easy meals, easy instructions. They're also usually pretty healthy.
My biggest issue when it comes to food is shopping. Transportation is hard. Shopping while using public transport is such a pain. If you can find a friend who'll take you shopping when they go (arrange some kind of exchange--you'll cook for them, clean their bathroom, whatever they're ok with. People are friendly to this kind of stuff), that's the best deal. If you have to take the bus, having one of those little rolly cart things, is such a good idea. No one wants to carry ten bags on the bus, especially if one of the bags decides to break and show the world what kind of tampons they're using. But ten bags in a cart that you've covered in super-fashionable Hello Kitty stickers? Everyone is into that!
If you have questions, suggestions, or if you'd simply like to tell me that I'm totally disability-ing wrong, leave it all in the comments.
