Seizing Life

Joey’s Song founder Mike Gomoll shares his son’s epilepsy story and discusses the creation, growth, and evolution of Joey’s Song into the multi-artist, multi-day, “Freezing Man Festival.”

In observance of Sudden Unexpected Death in Epilepsy (SUDEP) Action Day on October 16th, we speak with the Maffie family about the tragic loss of Anthony Maffie to SUDEP and their advocacy and fundraising efforts in Anthony’s honor.

This month we welcome Matthew Summerfield to the podcast. Matthew has lived with epilepsy since his first seizure at the age of eleven. Though he was advised early on not to tell anyone about his epilepsy, Matthew has refused to be held back by seizures, studying neurosceience as a college undergraduate, and now pursuing a PhD while working in an epilepsy research lab at the University of Iowa.

This month on Seizing Life® we speak with Dr. Elisa Zanier of the Mario Negri Institute in Milan, Italy about the current state of research into Post-Traumatic Epilepsy (PTE) in the wake of a recent International Conference on PTE co-hosted by CURE Epilepsy.

After losing her son to a rare form of epilepsy called NORSE, or New Onset Refractory Status Epilepticus, Nora Wong set out to get answers from doctors and researchers. When she found little information and more questions, she founded the NORSE Institute to raise awareness and fund research into this sudden and devastating form of epilepsy.

This month on Seizing Life® Jon Tuteur shares his journey with adult-onset epilepsy. From his first seizure at age thirty, through his epilepsy diagnosis, treatment, and eventual brain surgery, Jon discuses the physical and emotional impacts of seizures, medications, diagnostic tests, and medical procedures in pursuit of controlling his epilepsy. He also tells us about his forthcoming book Seizing Today: Discovering Purpose and Authenticity in a Life Changing Diagnosis

This week on Seizing Life® Dr. Laura O’Dwyer joins us to talk about the fastest growing segment of people living with epilepsy in the United States – older adults. Dr. O’Dwyer explains why adults are more likely to develop epilepsy later in life, outlines the challenges of recognizing, diagnosing, and treating epilepsy in older adults, and provides valuable information for older adults living with epilepsy and their caregivers.

This month on Seizing Life® author Laura Beretsky shares her decades-long journey with epilepsy, from diagnosis at age 6, through college, parenting, fighting discrimination in the workplace, and ultimately seizing control of her epilepsy via life-changing surgery.

This month on Seizing Life® a nurse and mother shares her young son’s journey from the onset of focal seizures to a devastating diagnosis of Rasmussen’s Encephalitis to a life-changing brain surgery.