Snowden (who really does, apparently, have epilepsy) helps an epileptic.

[MADem]

141. Jeez--hemispherectomy...the first time I heard about that I said WTF?

It was on the "list" of solutions (it being the most dire, pretty much) for children with seizures, which is how it came to my attention (young relative with CP and seizures--well medicated now thank goodness, no need for drastic measures, but we were doing a lot of reading in the early days and that procedure floored me).

Apparently, though, with the right doctor and the right age and the right circumstances and a little bit of luck, the amazingly plastic brain CAN rewire. What a task with that big an op! If I didn't know about it I would not have believed it possible. It was helpful knowledge when another relative had a stroke--I felt much more sanguine about how well physical therapy and occupational therapy can help the situation after learning about that operation.

I have a close in-law who was in a very similar situation as yours, and would become medically non-compliant (which of course never helps) owing to the prescribed "cocktail" of meds just not working, the side effects being brutally, physically and mentally onerous after a bit, things like that. The "go back and try again" tests went on for several YEARS and there were times when it was a bit of a challenge--the whole despair to exhortation cycle. It was a bit of a merry go round, lather rinse repeat. However, persistence pays off and now, with the right combo and dosage, everything is brilliant and has been for a good six or seven years with no issues. It's like sunrise over the water on a beautiful summer day, now. I'd be lying if I said it was easy--it wasn't but it was SO worth it to enable a family member to maximize potential at long last. It's so important to have support of family and friends, and stigmatizing doesn't help.

I think there will come a day when not all meds will be one size fits all. People will go and their dosage and medication will be matched to their blood type and DNA. Hopefully they'll be able to figure out before the agony of trial and error what works before the patient has to go through that roller coaster of illness and emotion.

As for stigma, it's stupid. Total waste of time. The way to get past it is to not hide, not be afraid, and not converse in whispers. It is what it is, and that's ALL it frigging is. I like what Rosalynn Carter did in her time on the mental health front, and how Michelle Obama has pushed the issues forward adding PTSD and TBI in the mix as well.

Onward and upward!