Trudy, a 34-year-old bank employee, had been suffering from epilepsy for more than 18 years. She had tried all the usual medications, with little success. Typically she would feel nauseated before an oncoming seizure, then lose consciousness. A few minutes later she would wake up, exhausted. According to her husband, she would smack her lips during her seizures and fumble with her hands.

When it got to the point that Trudy was experiencing two to three seizures a week, she decided to contact the Epilepsy Clinic at Bonn University, Germany, which she had heard about in a television report. Several weeks later she had her first outpatient appointment. After a detailed discussion of her medical history, physicians took blood samples, an electroencephalogram (EEG) of her brain and magnetic resonance images (MRI) of her head. Within days a doctor called to tell Trudy that surgery was recommended and that she should come in for an inpatient workup. Trudy was glad--and scared.

This article was originally published with the title Controlling Epilepsy.

2 Comments

1. 1. firewired 02:27 PM 9/12/08

   My wife was one of the epileptic surgery failures. Yes, the Drs. sounded promising before her surgeries to "correct" her petit-mal seizures; never mind the chance of death occurring, it seemed like the only thing left to do. Within 3 months of her surgery, she died in her sleep. So much for her "recovery!" Of course, the Drs. claim no faults; what would you expect? But ALL SURGERY IS RISKY BUSINESS! Do NOT be too quick to jump to the "quick fix" for seizures that surgery seems to offer.
   My wife died trying to find out. Yours could, too.

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2. 2. hiker 10:36 PM 12/13/08

   first, I am very sorry to hear about Firewired's wife's situation. However, my situation is quite different. I am also a female. I had a seizure disorder characterized as petit-mal epilepsy for over 25 years, starting at around the time of puberty (age 12). They would occur several times a month the week before my period. Many times I was told I was lip-smacking, eyes rolling and occasionally, if I had something in hand it would drop to the floor or I would fall myself, if standing. With all the neurological drugs on the market at the time during the '70's and '80's, nothing could control my monthly seizures. Eventually, I was considered a strong candidate for the surgery (left temperlobe region). My first surgery was in '95. However, it eliminated most of my seizures, I still had some monthly seizures that prevented me from obtaining my drivers license, along with doing many other activities. It wasn't until year 2000 that I opted to undergo this once again and, at that time, it proved successful! To this day, I am seizure-free and living life like everyone else out there! I got my driver's license, too. The one downside is that my short-term memory is affected. However, I am continuing with my evening division classes in an effort to obtain my degree. In addition, I feel that by stressing the brain by learning and challenging it, I may strengthen the existing neurons and brain cells. My motto is to keep the brain mentally challenged!

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