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Carla Huelsmann was diagnosed with epilepsy when she was 2. Throughout her childhood and early adult years, she experienced mainly petit mal seizures. Occasionally, she experienced slurred speech and lost her train of thought.
Although she disliked having the disease, medication helped keep her seizures to a minimum and allowed Huelsmann to do many of the things she wanted. She attended college, got married and welcomed a daughter, Kelsey.
Huelsmann and her husband, Scott, celebrated Kelsey’s birth. But they were discouraged to discover that pregnancy had changed the hormone levels in Huelsmann’s body, making seizure control more difficult.
For six years, Huelsmann’s doctors worked to find the right medications and dosages to control her epilepsy. Despite their efforts, her seizures became more frequent and intense.
“My body was out of control,” says Huelsmann. “I was having seizures on a daily basis. I truly felt that my life was coming to a halt and the seizures were taking over.”
While searching online for information about treatment, Huelsmann read about epilepsy surgery being done at Mayo Clinic for people whose seizures couldn’t be controlled with medications or other techniques. She decided to travel to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., to learn more.
After several appointments and a thorough evaluation, neurologists determined that Huelsmann was a good candidate for the procedure. Her seizures could be pinpointed to one area of her brain, and it was likely that surgery could correct the problem. She decided to have surgery.
Since the day a Mayo Clinic surgeon removed scar tissue from the left temporal lobe of her brain, Huelsmann has been seizure-free.
“The years since surgery have been the best for me,” she says. “I feel like a new person. The freedom from having seizures has allowed me to live my life to the fullest.”
I�m not that much of a online reader to be honest but your blogs really nice, keep it up! I’ll go ahead and bookmark your site to come back later. Many thanks.
I experienced just the opposite with my epilepsy. I got it out of the blue at age 14, had them occasionally, petite and grand mal throughout my adult life until at 34 i became pregnant with my son 22 yrs ago. I was given the eeg and all signs were normal and i have not had one since. I do believe God played a maor role in this too:)
my seizures are caused by scars on both sides of my brain. the seizures can last up to three hours and require intibation. i was told that i am not a candidate for surgery because they are on both sides
HI Amanda, Thank you for your comment. Unfortunately we are unable to offer medical advice via this platform. If would like a second opion from Mayo Clinic please contact our appointment office at 507-284-2111.