Coping With Seizures

Philadelphia woman leads a normal life, thanks to good treatment

‘It doesn’t define me’—Debbie Willis is vibrantly healthy in spite of having a seizure disorder. As an exercise physiologist, she knows the value of physical fitness, including moves (like the one above) to maintain balance.

If You See Someone
Having a Seizure

• Clear the area and loosen tight clothing.
• If he collapses to the floor, position him on his side so he won’t breathe food or fluids into his lungs.
• If he’s sitting upright, make sure his head is supported.
• Do not put anything in his mouth; he will not swallow his tongue during a seizure.
• If the seizure lasts more than three minutes, or if the patient is not waking up or is blue in the face, call 9-1-1 immediately. Coping With Seizures Philadelphia woman leads a normal life, thanks to good treatment

In June 2006, Debbie Willis arrived at her parents’ Allentown home for a festive Father’s Day weekend. But she soon grew dangerously confused. “I didn’t know where I was and didn’t recognize my parents,” says the 39-year-old Philadelphia woman.

Diagnosed with a seizure disorder at age 14, Willis had controlled it for more than two decades with medications. But that June day, she entered “status epilepticus,” a state of rapidly recurring seizures.

Willis was taken to Lehigh Valley Hospital, where she was safely sedated for five days. “That allows the electrical impulses causing the seizures to stop occurring,” says neurologist Soraya Jimenez, M.D. “It’s like putting water on a fire.”

When Willis awoke seizure-free, doctors worked with her to find a single medication that would be more effective than the combination she’d been taking. “For years, my hands were unsteady and my speech was slow,” she says. “I’m better now, more confident and much happier.”

While severe conditions like Willis’ are rare, seizure disorders affect more than 2 million Americans. Seizures can be triggered by low blood sugar or dehydration. When a seizure happens more than once and is not provoked by another medical condition, it’s considered epilepsy.

Epilepsy often develops in childhood or adolescence, says Boosara Ratanawongsa, M.D., a pediatric neurologist at the hospital. Epileptic seizures come in many forms. Those that affect the entire brain can lead to temporary loss of consciousness; those that occur in smaller brain areas can produce more isolated behaviors, such as repetitive movements (jerking of a limb, tugging at clothing) with or without loss of consciousness.

Medication helps most people with epilepsy live seizure-free. When drugs don’t work, other options include a high-fat, lowcarbohydrate diet and, in some cases, surgery.

A newer alternative is vagus nerve stimulation. Surgeons implant a pacemaker-like device in the upper chest, with a connecting wire that stimulates the vagus nerve in the neck. “This can stop seizures entirely or lessen their effects,” Ratanawongsa says.

Living with seizures is a challenge. When she was first diagnosed, Willis remembers struggling to fit in. “People saw me as a sick person and thought I wasn’t as smart or strong as others,” she says.

In reality, it’s no different living with epilepsy than with diabetes or asthma. “Once the condition is under control, life continues as normal,” Jimenez says. Pennsylvanians with epilepsy may be asked to surrender their license following a seizure, but can resume driving after six months seizure-free.

Today, Willis devotes much of her life to debunking myths about seizure disorders. She holds a master’s degree and is a senior exercise physiologist. “My seizure disorder is something I live with, but it doesn’t define me,” she says.

Want to Know More about the various types of seizures? Call 610-402-CARE or visit lvh.org/healthyyou.

Want to Know More about the various types of seizures? Call 610-402-CARE or visit lvh.org/healthyyou.

Published from Healthy You Magazine, January-February 2008

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