Imagine that you have a child in the 1st grade in school.  Until today he or she has been very healthy. friendly, happy and was the picture of health.

But one day your child starts to have strange symptoms.  He or she stares into space and does not hear what you say. This takes a few seconds, sometimes up to a minute or so. Then the child loses control of his bladder for no apparent reason.  This happens at home, at school, in church. You are scared, in fact, in some cases terrified.

What do you do?  Your first reaction is to call your family doctor.  You rush your child to him and he determines that it is a seizure disorder and provides some medication.  Those pills don’t work.  You go back and he gives another medication or increases the pills. After months of trial and error, sometimes years, your doctor refers you to a specialist.

This specialist is a neurologist who looks at your child and says for the first time. EPILEPSY, the dirty word, the dreaded word, the incurable malady, the hidden, the never spoken of handicap. This new doctor recommends that your child have an EEG, an electroencephalogram of the brain.  The results come back after a few weeks and they are inconclusive.  They did not find a focus for the seizure. The Neurologist recommends a CAT Scan (Computerized Axial Tomography).  This takes more time to schedule and to get the results.  The equipment is in another location.

Time is running out.  The years are going by and your child continues to have seizures. He becomes morose, frustrated and does not understand what is happening to him or why. Why can’t he or she go out and ride a bike with the other children, why his or her friends no longer come to the house to play. School is now a chore, your child is afraid, feels uncomfortable,  grades are dropping, other children, who can be sometimes very cruel, make fun of your child.  The teacher does not always understand.

Who do you call?  Who do you talk to? Where is the help?  You feel all alone with the problem.  It is consuming your life, trying to find information, to get help, to get counseling, Can it be cured, is it life threatening? What will happen as your child grows up?

NOW ENVISION ANOTHER FUTURE.

Your child has Epilepsy.  You make an appointment with your family physician. He recommends that you contact a local facility that specializes in the treatment of Epilepsy You may also go online and find the center on your own.  With your first contact you talk with a counselor or a nurse who understands your concern.  That person will be your point of contact and guide for every concern that you have regarding your child.

You are invited to the center and meet with your nurse and a profile of your child is developed.  The next step, while you are there is to have some tests run on your child that may help determine the cause of the disorder.  The results are provided while you are there.  You are now meeting with an Epileptologist, a Neurologist who has specialized in the diagnosis and treatment of Epilepsy.  Perhaps more tests are needed perhaps medication is the first line of action.

However it works out, you now have a team of highly specialized individuals who are there to work with you and your child.  You are provided information that you can take home, perhaps some information for the school, and a plan for treatment of your child. You and your family will have to make adjustments in your lives, and the center is there to help.  Your child is in good hands, and it has taken only days, and not months or years to get to this point. Everyone in the center has been trained in all the latest methods and can respond immediately to any emergency.

The nurse, the social worker, the psychologist, the psychiatrist, the neurosurgeon they are all experienced practitioners who can help your child and your family and they can all be accessed in one place.

This is the plan for the “Dr. Nina Davies Epilepsy Center”.  This vision is within reach, and with your help it will become a reality, perhaps within a year.

The “Dr. Nina Davies Epilepsy Foundation” is already in discussion with the Medical Centers of several major west coast universities to develop a center, devoted to the well being of the whole person suffering from seizures and not just the symptoms. The technology is in place, and the staff is available.  All that the foundation needs is your help. Unfortunately it not only takes the commitment of all those that will be involved, it takes lots and lots of money to make it a reality.

Please Know That Your Monetary Contribution Will Ultimately Help Millions Of People Worldwide And Hundreds Of Thousands In The United States.