When Mary Houser was 13-years-old she began having seizures. A year later, she was diagnosed with epilepsy and for years after that she and her doctor tried to manage her disease with different medications. But nothing seemed to work. Her epilepsy was gradually getting worse and she had to stop swimming and playing sports.
When Mary was in her 20s, she decided to see an epilepsy specialist - Dr. Maria Sam at Wake Forest Baptist Health. Dr. Sam sent her to the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit for a full evaluation. When her tests came back, Mary was told she was a good candidate for epilepsy surgery.
Patient Story - Mary Houser
When Mary Houser was 13 years old she began having seizures. She was diagnosed with epilepsy. After struggling with finding the right medication for years, she went to see Dr. Maria Sam at Wake Forest Baptist Health. She found out that she had another option to treat and possible cure her epilepsy – epilepsy surgery. And it worked. Mary no longer has to watch the clock and live her life taking pills. “To be normal and to not take any pills is amazing.”Mary’s surgery was a success – since then her tests have shown no signs of epilepsy. Mary describes her life before surgery as being in a daze. She was constantly watching the clock, making sure she took her pills exactly on time to maintain “normal.” But now, “To be normal not taking any pills is just amazing.”