Patient Stories

Like many teenage boys in the smaller towns of Alabama, Jacob Browder’s life was filled with friends, school, football -- and the rodeo. “He has always been a cowboy,” his mother, Susan, said. “He has always had a heart for rodeo.”

He started bull riding at age 13 and participated in 12 competitions, including the Youth World Finals in Texas the summer of 2013. That prestigious event draws competitors from all over the globe and only the best are invited to participate.

Jacob's Story

Imagine having a 7-year-old son with epilepsy – a son who for two years has been experiencing up to 40 seizures each day.

School is virtually impossible. The wood and metal desks are dangerous; the block walls in the cafeteria are dangerous. Everything around him becomes a danger when he has a seizure.

Kace's Story

The Lytle family’s experience with neurological disease began when Kelly and Rich’s youngest son, Oliver, was just four-and-a-half years old in 2011. After a sudden and unexpected seizure, an electroencephalogram (EEG) found abnormal spiking on the left side of his brain, confirming he had epilepsy. For almost two years, medication controlled it. But eventually, no medication was working; Oliver was experiencing intractable epilepsy. “It was a rough time,” Kelly said. “Oliver was having numerous breakthrough seizures, even though we had tried a lot of different kinds of medications.”

Oliver's Story

When Kaileb McIntyre was born nearly 14 weeks before his due date in April, 2012, his doctors expected that he would face many of the problems typical for premature babies. “He weighed only 2 lbs. 2 oz. and he had a lot of complications that came along with him being so small, so he had a tough time starting from when he was born,” said his mother, Khalena McIntyre.

Kaileb's Story

For Laura Ruth Padgett and her son, Noah Vick, life changed in an instant. One day while playing out on his condo balcony without his mother’s knowledge, Noah slipped and fell five stories.

Noah's Story

It was a shift gone unnoticed by everyone but Robert Struble. His then-12-year-old daughter, Robin, would stare into space and cease to speak. The episodes would end as soon as they began, each one fleeting – over in a flash.

Robin's Story