Archive for epilepsy
Looking toward the future in epilepsy care and treatment
“There’s a revolution happening in epilepsy treatment,” says Dr. Philip Pearl, director of Boston Children’s Hospital Epilepsy Center. Dr. Pearl and other members of the center celebrate Epilepsy Awareness Month by sharing what excites them about the future of epilepsy treatment, from targeted therapies to minimally invasive surgeries, and their continued hope for our patients ... Read More about Looking toward the future in epilepsy care and treatment
Staff Spotlight: Meet Andrea Lerude
Andrea Lerude is a certified child life specialist on the inpatient neuroscience floor at Boston Children’s Hospital. She’s worked at Boston Children’s for more than five years. What does your job involve? As a child life specialist, I provide developmentally appropriate coping support to children in the hospital, in the form of play. Basically, I ... Read More about Staff Spotlight: Meet Andrea Lerude
Staff spotlight: Meet genetic counselor Beth Rosen Sheidley
In honor of Genetic Counselor Awareness Day, we sat down with Beth Rosen Sheidley, MS, CGC, co-director of the Epilepsy Genetics Program at Boston Children’s Hospital, to learn about the field and practice of genetic counseling. What is the role of a genetic counselor? There are about 30 genetic counselors at Boston Children’s across many different departments and ... Read More about Staff spotlight: Meet genetic counselor Beth Rosen Sheidley
Libby’s story: Finding a surgical path to seizure control
Seven years ago, while my husband was visiting his parents in Washington, D.C., I traveled with our 3-year-old daughter, Libby, to Boston Children’s Hospital via ambulance from New Hampshire. Libby had been sick with a bad cold and had been acting unusually, with short episodes of rapid eye movement and stuttered speech. An epilepsy diagnosis ... Read More about Libby’s story: Finding a surgical path to seizure control
Amelia makes a special connection with her EEG tech
Amelia arrived at Boston Children’s Hospital in August with a present in her small hands. The gift was for one of Amelia’s favorite people at the hospital, electroencephalographic (EEG) technician Katie Tucker. Tucker has been Amelia’s primary EEG tech since she was just 7 months old. “We first traveled up to Boston Children’s from New ... Read More about Amelia makes a special connection with her EEG tech
Finding the best care for Zeeva
When our 8-year-old daughter, Zeeva, giggles and runs in her walker to the swing set, it’s like watching pure childhood joy. Understanding what it has taken to get her to this point, though, is close to unimaginable. Zeeva is one of fewer than 150 people in the world with a rare disease called Gould Syndrome ... Read More about Finding the best care for Zeeva
My life as a seizure alert dog
I’m Alo, a seizure alert dog. The story of how I got my name is pretty funny. Liyana, my best human friend, has epilepsy. One day, she was telling her nurses at Boston Children’s Hospital that she was getting a service dog. She had to pick a name and had chosen Alice. But she wasn’t ... Read More about My life as a seizure alert dog
Enjoying life, finally free of seizures
Kristen Grip stood in the middle of the basketball court, motionless. Around her, the action continued as usual — the smack of the ball on the polished wood floor, the rush of her teammates as they darted back and forth, the satisfying swish and shout of victory as someone made a basket. Yet the high ... Read More about Enjoying life, finally free of seizures
New Human Neuron Core to analyze ‘disease in a dish’
Last week was a good week for neuroscience. Boston Children’s Hospital received nearly $2.2 million from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC) to create a Human Neuron Core. The facility will allow researchers at Boston Children’s and beyond to study neurodevelopmental, psychiatric and neurological disorders directly in living, functioning neurons made from patients with these ... Read More about New Human Neuron Core to analyze ‘disease in a dish’
Immune cells “sculpt” brain circuits — by eating excess connections
The image above and the movie below show an immune cell caught in the act of tending the brain. The cell below has just eaten away unnecessary connections, or synapses, between neurons. That’s not something these cells, known as microglia, were previously thought to do. As immune cells, it was thought that their job was ... Read More about Immune cells “sculpt” brain circuits — by eating excess connections