A young epileptic woman has no more seizures. Her successful treatment made it possible to receive a four-digit cost grant from the HEARTFUND of my Stiftung Auswege: https://www.stiftung-auswege.de/stiftung-auswege/organe/herzensfonds.html
Eva* was nine years old when she developed a particularly severe form of epilepsy. Since then, she has had grand mal seizures every one to two weeks.
Suddenly, she stopped, her gaze became fixed, her eyes rolled upward, she stiffened, and twitched convulsively; during this time, she briefly lost consciousness. She would suddenly pause, her gaze would become fixed, her eyes would roll back, she would become
stiff and twitch convulsively; during this time, she would briefly lose consciousness. “Sometimes there are calmer phases,”
reported Eva’s mother, “but they don’t last long,” even though the young woman was taking the anti-epileptic drug lacosamide, 250 mg twice a day.
However, Eva did not have a single seizure while she and her mother were attending an AUSWEGE camp: she was “completely symptom-free,” as Eva noted in a patient questionnaire at the end of the camp.
And she stopped stuttering
Since the age of four, Eva, now 18, had stuttered – “intermittently,” as her mother describes it.
“Sometimes her speech is fluent for periods of time.” Because of her speech problems, “Eva holds back.” The young woman’s self-confidence suffered as a result, as did her social contacts. She had given up speech therapy a few years ago in frustration. It was only at the AUSWEGE camp that she made the progress she had hoped for. In the security of a loving, accepting, and supportive therapeutic community, “I didn’t actually stutter at all,” as Eva noted towards the end of the healing week. There, “I dared to approach strangers more and talk to them.“ She thought it was great that you could address everyone, including therapists, in an informal manner. Everyone was nice, and everyone was treated with equal respect.
I was never alone here – there was always someone by my side. I just think it’s a shame that this summer camp was so short.”
Eva’s mom was also impressed: “I am very grateful that my daughter made such wonderful progress here this week.”
The mother and daughter’s participation was made possible by donations, because the costs of counseling and treatment, accommodation, and meals would have been too much for the needy family; the HERZENSFONDS subsidized them with around 1,500 euros.
(*: pseudonym)
