Wednesday April 4, 2001 THE OAKVILLE BEAVER B1 Glen O a k s M e m o rial G arden s / ;£ A beautiful landmark cemetery offering a full ranee o f services inclui traditional ground interment, indoor mausolea and Oakville's only cremation centre. Forfarther information call or visit 3164 9th Line, Oakville Call 257-1100 www.glenoaks.ca OFFICIAL MEDIA SPONSOR OF THE OAKVILLE WATERFRONT FESTIVAL Oakville Beaver Focus Editor: WILMA BL0KHUIS 845-3824 Ext: 250; Fax: 337-5567; Email: blokhuis@haltonsearch.com Focus 4 mine a medication that would control Adam's seizures, they became worse. He had petit mal seizures for a year, but in September, 1998, he had his first grand mal, when he was brought to school one morning. "The grand mal seizures came more often after then," recounts Gunn. "Most of the time I had to call 9-1-1.1 was very scared. He would turn blue and his eyes were bulging. Last August, he had the longest seizure, which lasted 45 minutes. He was rushed from OakvilleTrafalgar Memorial Hospital to McMaster in Hamilton." O d h v ille / W a tb r fr r y r C t fe tftv a l * Bloodproduct treatment gives epileptic boy hope By Shelly Sanders G reer SPECIAL TO THE BEAVER vulsion, when the person loses con sciousness. Other types include petit absence seizures, when a child may have a 10-second staring spell and be unresponsive, and a complex partial seizure, the most common. With this, awareness is lost. In the majority of cases, like Adam's, the cause of epilep sy is unknown. Adam suffered from as many as 60 to 70 petit absence seizures daily and was often unable to attend school. His mother lived in fear whenever she was away from Adam in case he had anoth er seizure. Embarrassed and angry about his epilepsy, Adam refused to wear a MedicAlert bracelet, which would let people know what was hap pening in the event of a seizure, and how to care for him, if his mother was absent. It can also immediately provide an ambulance attendant or other emer gency personnel with information about which medications to stay away from in treating Adam. Since it took two years to find out which medications could control his seizures, this informa tion is crucial for Adam's well-being. "My son was in the 1% of children that have difficulty with medication," says Gunn. "He's had 12 medications, some worked, some didn't, and some had bad side effects. There is a really fine art to working out medications." While doctors were trying to deter- hen Oakville mom Wendy Gunn gave her son Adam lunch one day, three years ago, something hap pened which would change the course of their lives. While Adam had a sand wich in his mouth, his mouth started trembling. The same thing happened a month later, while he was eating. Troubled, Gunn told her doctor she thought Adam had a seizure. The doc tor wasn't so sure, but sent him for an EEG to be safe. When the results came back, it was the beginning of a night mare for Wendy, her husband Wyman, Adam and John, who is now five. Adam was diagnosed with epilepsy and it would take three years of seizures, which grew progressively worse, and a myriad of medications to reach a point of stability. Now eight years old, Adam is one of more than 300,000 Canadians with epilepsy, a disorder of the central ner vous system. A seizure occurs when nerve cells in the brain suddenly change from their usual patterns of electrical connections and begin misfir ing in a burst of excessive electrical activity. There are different types of seizures, the most severe being a con A Photo by Barrie Erskine Adam enjoys playing with his Lego set with his mom Wendy Gunn. dam's neurologist at McMaster Health Sciences Centre had read about three epileptic boys in Lebanon treated with Intravenous Immunoglobulin, a blood product to boost their immune system. For the first time at McMaster, this pro cedure was done for an epileptic patient-- Adam-- with success. He was given the blood product for four days and after two, the family and doctors saw results. Adam has been seizure-free for four months, but must still take anti-seizure medication. He has also endured speech and behavioral problems due to the thousands of seizures he's experienced. Right now, he's in a special program at Gladys Speers Public School, but Gunn is hopeful he will return to his home school-- Pilgrim Wood -- in a couple of years. More importantly, Gunn hopes Adam will outgrow the seizures by the time he's 11 or 12, when his brain stops growing. Until then, he will continue to have EEG's every year to see if there is still seizure activity. Even though Adam has been seizure free, Gunn worries that a seizure could come again at any time, and she might not be around to provide the vital infor mation needed. To help allay this con cern, she bought a sports MedicAlert bracelet for Adam, which he then refused to wear. It wasn't until Gunn saw a recent public service announce ment featuring MedicAlert's youth spokesperson and figure-skating champ, Ben Ferreira that she knew she had found the help she needed. "Adam needed to see an older per son, a professional athlete who has the condition, who was not embarrassed to wear the bracelet. As soon as Adam Photo by Barrie Erskine Proud to wear his sports MedicAlert bracelet is Adam, 8, who has epilepsy. Furthermore, despite the fact that saw the PSA, he put his bracelet on. It 3,200 children under the age of 10 are was a huge turning point. Now he is diagnosed each year with epilepsy, less proud to weaf his bracelet." Gunn was actually appalled when than 2% of MedicAlert's members with she found out that hardly any people epilepsy are children under 10. "It is important that the community suffering from epilepsy in Canada wear works together to encourage safety and MedicAlert bracelets. protection for children with health con Denise Crepin, national executive ditions and special needs like epilepsy. director, Epilepsy Canada, states in a Children need to be encouraged to take recent press release, that although more control of their lives through a commu than 300,000 Canadians currently are diagnosed with epilepsy, less than nication tool such as medical informa tion," Crepin adds. 46,000 of MedicAlert's members have identified epilepsy. (See `M edicAlert. . . ' page B4) The Body Shaping Fitness Studio ForWomen. It a l ia n Le a t h e r fo r Dirk Gebhardt Maria Kinlough S p r in g Have you noticed that the bulbs are starting to bud? This is always an indicator that the weather is Becoming warmer. The thought of summer is such a refreshing change from the long cold winter. 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