Managing Pediatric Epilepsy
Frank* is only 4-years-old. He is at FAME because he suffers from epilepsy, a brain disorder characterized by repeated seizures. He has had this disorder since he was nine months old.
This is not Frank’s first visit to FAME. Frank has been here many times, including once to see Dr. Michael Rubenstein and the team of neurology residents and fellows from the University of Pennsylvania and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, who come to FAME twice a year to provide neurological care to our patients.
Frank is back at FAME because he suffered 16 seizures last night, according to his mother. Lately, he has experienced an increase in seizures, which has led to him being pulled out of school. His school has been very supportive of his condition, but when his seizures happen every other hour, they cannot handle it. He's also running a fever that won't break. His mother is very worried about him
“The seizures have gotten worse lately, and the high fever is a new thing. I'm happy that a well wisher helped me bring him to FAME. Frank was on medication for six months before, and that helped him tremendously. I’m here to ask the doctors if they can help me control these seizures, maybe with the same medication again.” - Mama Frank
At FAME, Frank and his mother are working with Dr. Anne Ghati, FAME’s focal neurologist. For almost 10 years, Dr. Anne has been working closely with Dr. Rubenstein’s team of Neurology residents and fellows, learning a lot in the process. And just this May, Dr. Anne spent one month at University of Pennsylvania doing an observership with their neurology team.
“I am very familiar with Frank’s case. On the day he was admitted to the inpatient ward in the morning, he had already suffered four seizures. His mother explained that he got seizures after every one to two hours. I prescribed him phenobarbital, a prescription medicine used to treat and prevent the symptoms of seizures. Due to this, he only suffered a few seizures during admission.” - Dr. Anne Ghati
In some cases, epilepsy can have a genetic component, which may be the case with Frank, as his mother recalls having something similar between the ages of three and seven.
“My mother tells me that I also had seizures when I was young. She is not sure whether it was epilepsy since I never saw a doctor and the condition resolved itself, but I fear this might be what Frank has. His two older siblings are okay though, they don’t get seizures. It’s only Frank.” - Mama Frank
Frank also had the chance on this visit to consult visiting volunteers, Marin Jacobwitz, NP and Dr. Daniel Licht, who are visiting pediatric neurologists from the University of Pennsylvania.
“I love FAME for their good and caring service. When he was admitted to the inpatient ward, every time Frank suffered a seizure the medical staff would come running to help me and make sure that he was okay. When I came to the reception the first time, they immediately fast tracked me into seeing a doctor. I didn’t have to wait in line with a child suffering seizures. I was and still am very grateful to FAME. You share the burden of this disease with me. Thank you!”
*While the patients’ names have been changed to protect privacy, permission was secured to share his photos and stories with FAME supporters, and to raise awareness of available medical care at FAME.