Her seizures come early in the morning. This Blyth, Ont., bakery lets her keep doing what she loves

Karen Middleton-Meadham was still an apprentice when she started experiencing morning seizures eight years ago. Concerned she'd have to leave an industry she loved — one that rises with the sun — she moved to a tiny village to open her own bakery. 

The result was Brød Bread & Pastry, which she and husband Gerrit Sepers opened in Blyth, Ont., north of London, in November of 2021. It can close at a moment's notice. The couple has the notes to prove it, scribbled on wax bags and scraps of paper that say, "Closed due to epilepsy."

According to Epilepsy Canada, more than 400,000 Canadians live with the neurological disorder, which can cause sudden, uncontrolled bursts of electrical activity in the brain. They can result in a range of behaviour changes, movements and levels of losing consciousness.

Owning the bakery gives the couple the freedom to design it around Karen's needs. 

"We have the ability to lock the door remotely and have Karen in a safe space, like on the couch while she's going through an episode," said Sepers. "It's a very private thing, having a seizure."

Other features include special matting on floors, "so that if I should fall or if I need to lay down, I can do so without harming myself," she said. 

Sepers has taken on learning to bake, as another way to keep Brød open when his wife needs help. She's entrusted him with a cherished secret: a 100-year-old lemon cake recipe developed by her great-grandfather, a pastry chef. 

"It's arguably it's the best thing that he makes right now," she said. 

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For Middleton-Meadham, operating the bakery has given back her confidence. 

"I feel that epilepsy is the thief," she said. "It takes so much from you."

The seizures seemed to come out of nowhere as an adult, but she believes she's had them her whole life.  

"They were at night and I was alone in my bed, so they went unnoticed and the symptoms of them, like anxiety and various struggles, presented as severe mental health [problems]," she said. 

"Bakers get up at obscene hours," she said. "Proper sleep is really important for epilepsy. So when you're waking up at two o'clock in the morning, you're not getting good, restful sleep," she said. 

With the bakery's flexible hours, however, "I can provide people with what I love, but in a safe environment with the people that I love. It's really amazing and special thing."

It's also an important connection to her past. 

"My grandmother is really the one who started it all for me. I used to bake and cook with her quite often as a young child and she taught me a lot of the skills that I've carried through to my adult career now." 

The baker said being so open about her neurological disorder isn't always easy, but she wants her community to understand it. 

"A lot of hurdles for people."

When it comes to employability, "I think there's a lot of hurdles for people," said Michelle Franklin, Chief Executive Officer of Epilepsy Southwestern Ontario, who said workplace disclosure can be a difficult topic. 

"If it's a customer, a coworker or your boss that happens to see you have a seizure, people tend to worry about those things. It can be very stressful."

Franklin said if individuals are stressed about having a seizure at work, it can actually lead to more frequent seizures. She added that not all seizures are convulsive, and can present as daydreaming or staring off. 

The agency offers training for workplaces, to help staff recognize what seizures looks like and how to keep somebody safe, as what workplaces can do to avoid triggering them. Last year, the agency did 106 workplace presentations. 

This can be especially helpful for high-traffic arenas and concert venues, she said. 

"If you think of one in 100 people having epilepsy, that's a lot of people they're seeing and the potential is there," said Franklin.