Case Study: Jackson Eagle

Ashley Eagle of Stuttgart, Ark., thought that her son, Jackson, was just having febrile seizures. But after an unrelated ER visit for salmonella poisoning, doctors noticed that his seizure activity was increasing – and his seizures were not due to a fever.

Multiple tests finally determined that 5-month-old Jackson’s seizures were caused by tuberous sclerosis complex (TSC) a diagnosis that the Eagle family had never heard of before.

After a visit to the Le Bonheur TSC clinic, Jackson spent a week in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit (EMU) and began trying various medications to get on the right path to seizure control.

“He did really well on those medications for a while,” said Eagle. “But then he began to have more frequent seizures, and his development was really suffering.”

The Eagles returned for another stint in the EMU in October 2017 when Le Bonheur Chief Neurologist James Wheless, MD, gave them the options for 2-year-old Jackson – surgery for vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) implant or the cannabidiol (CBD) oil trial. Eagle asked Wheless, “If this was your kid what would you do?” His answer: the trial.

In the months leading up to the trial, Jackson had seizures every single day. He began CBD oil on Jan. 2, 2018. He had nine seizures that month as he adjusted to the medication and then went 154 days without a seizure – the longest ever in his young life.

“For any parents considering CBD oil for their child’s seizures, I would say ‘Give it a shot,’” Eagle said. “It’s been so amazing for Jackson, we call it the miracle drug. I feel that it could be a useful tool to help other kids as well.”

Not only has there been a dramatic drop in seizure frequency, Jackson is growing in his cognition and development by leaps and bounds. Whether it’s simple everyday tasks like taking shoes and socks off or enjoying sliding down a slide, he continues to do things that he wasn’t able to do just one year ago.

“CBD oil has reduced Jackson’s seizures but also given him an opportunity to be as normal a child as possible,” said Eagle. “Le Bonheur is fabulous – they don’t treat you like you’re a patient they treat you like you’re one of their family members.”