The Flowers Family

Victoria was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 8.  Her seizures were manageable with medication for a number of years.  At the age of 17 she was seizure free on medication and her neurologist thought that perhaps she had outgrown her epilepsy.  She was weaned from her medication and was seizure free for almost a year, when she began to experience severe nocturnal seizures.  In October of last year, Victoria suffered a seizure that was so severe that she was found unconscious and not breathing.  She had to be taken by ambulance for emergency room care.  Since that time, she has had to carry rescue medication with her at all times and has slept each night with an epilepsy monitoring system on her.  Her neurologist has tried a number of different medications, but she has become resistant to most .  She is currently prescribed three separate medications and continues to have breakthrough seizures.  She has and continues to experience many side effects from her medication.  She has been told by her neurologist that a solution, other than medication needs to be found, as she is now at great risk of death from epilepsy. 

Victoria has always been a fantastic student, committed to learning.  She graduated from high school with honors and received scholarships for attendance at several colleges/universities.  Victoria has been attending college at Aquinas in Grand Rapids, while still living at home with her mother and younger brother, and planned for this to be her senior year, with plans to graduate with a Bachelors Degree: majoring in English with a writing emphasis, and minoring in Communications and Woman's Studies.  Due to the fact that her epilepsy has become so severe, dangerous, and medication resistant, her neurological team at Butterworth-Spectrum Hospital in Grand Rapids decided that it was best for her to undergo invasive neurological testing to determine if there are other measures that will help her.  Due to the severity of her seizures, the scheduled hospitalization for tests (2 to 6 weeks in duration), and recovery time (1 to 3 months), Victoria has had to drop out of college and work.  She is currently in the hospital for this invasive testing to occur.  This hospital stay began with electrodes being surgically implanted in her brain.  She is currently in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit where they are gathering data from her seizures and conducting brain mapping to determine if she is a candidate for resection surgery.  Resection surgery is to remove a portion of the brain where seizures originate and is only possible if the seizures do not occur in an area of the brain where removal of tissue could cause other impairments.  Following the completion of the testing, a second surgery will occur to remove all of the electrodes from her brain and healing will begin.  

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Victoria's single parent mother, has not been able to operate fitness business for many months and has not been able to secure other employment.  She has developed an on-line program to provide fitness coaching to clients while the gyms are closed, but this has not generated enough income for her to sustain their family entirely, and she has had to rely on assistance from family members and friends.  Now, she is at her daughters side at the hospital and in dire need of financial assistance to make monthly living expenses. 

It is not yet clear if Victoria will be a candidate for resection surgery.  If so, it will be preformed during this hospital stay, and will prolong the length of her stay and recovery time at home with close care bring provided by her mother.  If resection surgery is not possible, at the end of this testing period (2 to 6 weeks), Victoria will return home to recover and then an additional surgery to implant an RNS device will be preformed once healing has occurred.  Either procedure will require Victoria and her mother to be off from work for a lengthy amount of time. Any financial assistance that is available will be helpful and greatly appreciated while her family navigates through this major health need.