NORFOLK, Va. — Sentara Norfolk General Hospital is now home to a Level 4 Epilepsy Center — the highest level possible and the only one in Hampton Roads. It comes after their treatment of a patient who plays a big role here at 13News Now.
What you see on-air at 13News Now starts in the editing bay with editors like Ethan Boudreau.
"Me and another editor both share different shows and I’m responsible for the 4:30, 5:30," Ethan said.
Now, he’s stepping in front of the camera to tell his story.
"My first seizure was when I was 21," he said. "I was put in a medically induced coma for four days."
Ethan said his epilepsy diagnosis in 2015 changed his life.
"I went from partying every week, wanting to go out and just do everything that I could as a young college student would to, I became a shut-in. I was a recluse."
The seizures continued every two months before Ethan and his doctors found medication that worked for five years, before wearing off, as they knew it would.
"It is very strange and scary to wake up and just not know something as simple as your name," Ethan recalled. "I wanted to remember what it was like to live."
Then, the seizures returned as Ethan was set to start a promotion from 13News Now Production Assistant to Photojournalist.
"A major piece of the responsibilities of that job were to drive to and from different scenes. And when these seizures resurged, I lost my ability to drive, which completely negated all of my training, everything that I had taught myself and learned from my supervisors and coworkers," he said. "It completely dropped the floor out from under me."
Because the epilepsies held him back from that promotion, Ethan moved into his current role as an editor.
Last year, Ethan's neurologist Dr. Daniel Graf with Sentara Neurology Specialists recommended surgery to implant a responsive neurostimulator (RNS) under his scalp.
"It then senses those electrical activities that are the start of a seizure and sends impulses to stop that electrical activity from propagating, so it stops the spread of the seizure," said Graf.
The RNS is about the size of a key fob. It monitors brain waves and responds to abnormal activity to help control his attacks.
"It, for lack of a better term, shocks me out of a seizure when it detects the brain wave patterns that emit a seizure," echoes Ethan.
He said that surgery at Sentara’s Epilepsy Center changed his life again — this time for the better.
"I now only have them about every three to four months and it is night and day compared to what it used to be," he said.
What used to debilitate Ethan for a full day when he would convulse, lose consciousness and sometimes injure himself, he's now on the mend within minutes, administering his own rescue medication.
"I actually had a seizure at the office just this past Wednesday and it happened at about 10:30 p.m. and by 11, I was comfortable enough to get in the car and be on the ride home, 'so what did you guys do for dinner?' Just like it was another day at the office."
That procedure also led the Sentara Epilepsy Center to become a Level 4 Epilepsy Center, the highest level possible and the only one in Hampton Roads.
"Having that designation gives comfort to other doctors and other providers in our area, they can say 'Hey, we can send this person that we have here to Sentara to have that discussion' versus 'Oh, we have to send this person far away,' let's say to one of our well known academic centers," said Dr. Graf.
According to Sentara Health, "As part of the three-year process to become a Level 4 Center, the Sentara Epilepsy Center demonstrated the capacity to provide the most complex forms of monitoring and treatment, including a range of surgical procedures."
"They can still get that higher level of treatment here," Graf continued, "without having to travel hours to another city."
Epilepsy is one of the most widespread brain disorders, affecting more than three million people in the U.S.
"Knowing that these are normal people like you and me, people that you work with, people that you know, then it should help to reduce or eliminate the stigma that is attached to having epilepsy and many neurological and psychological conditions. There's nothing wrong with you if you have this, it's quite common and you should be able to live a normal live if you receive the treatment that you need," said Graf.
The surgery also led Ethan to become a voice for others dealing with epilepsy, speaking at events for the Epilepsy Foundation of Virginia.
"It's been a very nice change of pace to be able to feel comfortable enough talking about my experiences and open up and share with people, rather than just let these seizures happen and hide behind everything and just go to my bedroom to disappear and pretend like it didn't happen," he said. "It feels much more fulfilling to go out and tell these people this is what it’s like to experience this and it’s not a defining piece of my personality or my mental health."