Treating Recurrent Seizures at Cottage Epilepsy Center
Dr. Gibbs and Eli at Walk to End Epilepsy in Santa Barbara
“Cottage helped me get my life back.” – Eli, 7th Grade Teacher, Taft, CA
Eli was 22 years old when he had his first epilepsy symptom.
“All of a sudden, my muscles contracted. I lost consciousness and fell to the ground,” he said.
Eli’s type of seizure is known as a tonic-clonic seizure, formerly called a grand mal seizure.
“It was scary, and I had unusual symptoms – feeling chest pain and anxiety – right before it happened,” Eli said.
Eli was diagnosed with epilepsy in Bakersfield.
According to the Epilepsy Foundation, epilepsy is the fourth most common neurological disorder in the world. For those with epilepsy, surges of electrical activity in the brain can cause recurring seizures. The condition affects more than two million adults in the U.S., or about 1% of the adult population, and 470,000 adolescents and youth.
Eli began treatment in Bakersfield with medication, but soon he began experiencing adverse side effects. Even when his medications were changed, he still felt something was off.
Eli knew he needed more comprehensive care, and that’s when he found the Cottage Epilepsy Center at Santa Barbara Cottage Hospital.
“I spoke to Karen Secore, the nurse navigator at the Cottage Epilepsy Center,” Eli said. “And she referred me to Dr. Michael Gibbs in neurology.”
“We brought Eli in for the initial Phase I monitoring, which is video/EEG monitoring and epilepsy protocol MRI scan of the brain,” Cottage nurse navigator Karen Secore said. “The monitoring recorded his seizures, which felt like panic attacks to him.” EEG stands for electroencephalogram, which measures brain electrical activity.
After the Phase 1 monitoring, Eli underwent more tests with neuropsychologist Matthew Kraybill from the Cottage Rehabilitation Hospital. Eli’s care team was working to identify the specific regions in his brain related to the onset of seizures.
“Cottage was working hard to find out what treatment would help me,” Eli said. “I was eager to get back to work, because I had to take time off due to having ongoing seizures while teaching at school. I was experiencing anxiety and stress and thought time off would help, but it didn’t.”
With the test results collected, the Cottage Epilepsy Center team collaborated with colleagues participating in Keck Medicine of USC’s epilepsy care consortium in Central and Southern California. Using shared knowledge from multiple epilepsy centers and experts throughout the region, it was determined that Eli could benefit from a right temporal lobe resection to help reduce his seizures. The procedure was performed by N. Nicole Moayeri MD, FAANS, neurosurgeon, in November 2023.
“After surgery, I spent one night in the surgical ICU and the next day or two in the hospital to recover,” Eli said. “I always felt I was in good hands. Everyone at Cottage cared. They took me and my condition seriously, and I’m getting better and better thanks to them.”
Once home, Eli noticed his health was improving.
“The seizures had stopped,” he said. “I felt much better, and I couldn’t wait to get back to work.”
Eli returned to the classroom the following month (December 2023). “It felt great to be back teaching,” he said. “I had missed the kids.”
More good news for Eli came a few months later. In April 2024, he married the love of his life, Taylor, who is also a teacher.
These days, Eli is enjoying life, marriage and teaching, and he hasn’t had a seizure since his surgery, achieving an important milestone of six months seizure-free.
Eli continues to progress with follow up care in the outpatient clinic, and he attends an ongoing epilepsy support group offered by nurse navigator Karen Secore.
“My experience at Cottage has been great,” he said. “The staff is incredible – so caring and respectful. I left feeling relieved and comforted. I don’t know what I would’ve done without them.”
