Our HH Family

Brandon Burdick

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Brandon's Story

This is my son, Brandon, who is now 9 years old. Brandon was a normal kid up until age 2 1/2 when he had his first seizure. He went through many EEG's, MRI's , PET Scan's, CAT Scan's, Internal EEG's, Ketogenic Diet and Gamma Knife. His Hypothalamic Hamartoma was not discovered until he was 5 years old.

In April of 2001, Brandon was operated on by Dr R Michael Scott of Boston Children's Hospital. After the surgery, his seizures increased in amount and intensity. In June of 2001, Dr Scott again went in to remove the HH. During that surgery Brandon had a minor stroke which left him with some temporary paralysis. For the next nine months Brandon was basically seizure free unless there was a change in medication or he was ill.

Today Brandon is mentally 4 years old. He has extreme behavioral outbursts and the seizures have returned. He has gained approximately 40 lbs. We are currently looking towards getting another surgery done in hopes that some day my precious little one can have a normal life. People with this disease are left with no hope and feel like they are at a loss trying to find some sort of cure. It is as if everyday you feel like there is nothing that can be done to save your child, you just slowly watch the seizures mentally debilitate your child and hope that any seizure does not last so long that they die from lack of oxygen. This group has been our only salvation to our struggle with this disease.

Brandon's Poem