Disir
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- Sep 30, 2011
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It was the summer of 2010, and Ouida Foster hazily emerged from a seizure at a light rail stop in Hoboken, N.J. The stroller that had been carrying her 3-year-old daughter Ripley was empty, but she couldn’t remember why.
“It was terrifying,” said Foster, 40. “When you come out of a seizure, it’s like coming out of a tunnel. You’re rebooting. You’re grasping at what you can to try and make sense of it.”
Ripley had, thankfully, been dropped off safely at her day camp prior to Foster’s seizure. But those alarming episodes would occur up to 10 times a month after a 2006 epilepsy diagnosis that robbed the Brookline resident of her ability to function.
Foster was forced to quit her job as a financial analyst and tried 10 different medications, none of which kept the seizures at bay.
But, she says, her life has changed since getting “a pacemaker for the brain” — an implantable device that sends electric pulses to the problem areas before a seizure can occur.
The device, called a responsive neurostimulation system, is inserted into the skull and nodes are attached to the regions where nerve cells behave erratically. Foster has one node on each side of her brain.
Kalter: ‘Pacemaker for the brain’
That is pretty cool.
“It was terrifying,” said Foster, 40. “When you come out of a seizure, it’s like coming out of a tunnel. You’re rebooting. You’re grasping at what you can to try and make sense of it.”
Ripley had, thankfully, been dropped off safely at her day camp prior to Foster’s seizure. But those alarming episodes would occur up to 10 times a month after a 2006 epilepsy diagnosis that robbed the Brookline resident of her ability to function.
Foster was forced to quit her job as a financial analyst and tried 10 different medications, none of which kept the seizures at bay.
But, she says, her life has changed since getting “a pacemaker for the brain” — an implantable device that sends electric pulses to the problem areas before a seizure can occur.
The device, called a responsive neurostimulation system, is inserted into the skull and nodes are attached to the regions where nerve cells behave erratically. Foster has one node on each side of her brain.
Kalter: ‘Pacemaker for the brain’
That is pretty cool.
