Goodbye Seizures

Four years, five hospitals and 1,500 miles. That’s what it took for the Blalock family to get answers and relief for their son Beck’s seizures.

Because of Le Bonheur, 13-year-old Beck recently celebrated being two years seizure free — a milestone his parents, Melinda and Tim, thought nearly impossible a few years ago.

In 2020, the Blalocks went to several hospitals near their home in southern California, yet each time doctors gave them the same answer — Beck’s EEGs and MRI, diagnostic tests to analyze the brain, were normal.

Beck’s parents were concerned as they watched their son experience seizures night after night that didn’t respond to medication. Desperate for answers, Melinda researched other options, looking for a hospital where Beck could get advanced brain imaging and finally receive a diagnosis. Le Bonheur’s Neuroscience Institute repeatedly appeared on Melinda’s computer screen as the best place to take Beck.

The Blalocks traveled from their California home to Memphis in 2021 so that Beck could receive the testing he needed at Le Bonheur. At the Neuroscience Institute, Beck underwent advanced brain imaging, including a magnetoencephalography (MEG) scan, and the results showed he was experiencing seizures deep in his brain that the previous EEG scans were not sensitive enough to detect.

At long last, the Blalock family had the answers they were desperately seeking as Beck’s Le Bonheur neurologists and neurosurgeons discovered he experienced focal motor seizures.

“When we came to Le Bonheur, we felt heard from day one,” Melinda said.

“Beck’s care team got right to work to find an answer as to what was causing his seizures. In just three days, we learned more about Beck’s brain than in the prior four years.”

Beck underwent surgery to have a vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) implanted which helps prevent seizures and resulted in immediate improvement. Two years later at age 10, Beck had a responsive neurostimulation device (RNS) implanted in his brain to monitor and further prevent seizure activity.

“The RNS changed our lives forever. Beck has been seizure free since shortly after it was implanted in his brain,” Melinda said. “Every night, we wand Beck’s RNS device through his skull, which uploads data to the cloud so that Le Bonheur physicians can monitor the RNS 1,500 miles away in Memphis.”

Today, Beck is thriving and he recently started the seventh grade. He stays very active with musical theater, tap and voice lessons, along with ongoing therapies.

Beck has been able to significantly reduce the volume of medication he takes, and because he has remained seizure free for two years, he travels to Le Bonheur for check-up appointments and device management of both his VNS and RNS every six months.

When the Blalocks are at Le Bonheur, they enjoy spending time with other epilepsy families who have become an extended support system. According to Melinda, they often coordinate appointments and trips with them when possible. Beck also loves to participate in programming at Le Bonheur’s Seacrest Studio, a state-of-the-art broadcast media center for patients and families in the hospital, and has hosted his own interactive show for fellow patients on several occasions.

“Words cannot express the gratitude we feel for Le Bonheur. Beck’s seizure control feels nothing short of a miracle,” Melinda said. “He has experienced tremendous growth in his development since the placement of his RNS device, learning math, writing and even reading — something we were unsure we would see.”