My daughter, Peyton Cochran, was diagnosed with drug-resistant epilepsy in January 2020. She woke up I the middle of the night with a focal seizure. After multiple tests, she was diagnosed with focal and generalized seizures.
A year and a half later, her first generalized seizure occurred. They have been increasing in minutes for each one she has. The longest one has been 3 minutes so far. Watching my daughter have a seizure is pure torture. Not being able to stop it for her. Her triggers are stress and heat. It’s hard to let her play during the summer because you want her to play and be a kid, but I also must protect her from having more seizures. It’s a balancing act. Having Epilepsy has also increased my daughter’s anxiety. She is always worried when the next one is going to occur. We are stressed with it all, but we know God has his hand on her and that gives us peace through it all.
She has had multiple side effects from medications along with breakthrough seizures. She has been having a lot of breakthrough seizures lately and her Neurologist is presenting her case at the epilepsy conference in July 2025 to see if she may be a good candidate for the VNS. Epilepsy has changed our lives. Watching your child seize and not being able to stop it is pure torture. She has routine EEGs, neurologist appointments, and side effects still on her seizure meds. We are hoping the VNS will help stop or lessen her seizures.
We need a CURE for epilepsy. No one should suffer through seizures. Seizure medication costs are high and should be free of cost to families dealing with Epilepsy. These families deal with enough already, then must worry about the price of medication on top of that. There should be a grant put in place to help with the cost of procedures and medication costs.
A CURE for Epilepsy would mean we wouldn’t have to watch our daughter suffer through a seizure, and we wouldn’t have to stress over the side effects from the medications. She would be able to live a normal life, without fear of the heat or stress causing a seizure. It would change our lives drastically, but in a very positive way!