Need A HUGE Amount of Advice

[howdydave]

Has she see my site about the VNS yet?

The VNS From A Patient's Point Of View
http://www.howdydave.com/vns.html

The VNS is not a cure all and it was only designed to be used as therapy for complex partial seizures.

Your friend has multiple seizure types.

Before your friend does anything, she definately needs to consult a second doctor who specializes in epilepsy.

In the words of Cyberonics (the device manufacturer):

• The NCP System is indicated for use as an adjunctive therapy in reducing the frequency of seizures in adults and adolescents over 12 years of age with partial onset seizures, which are refractory to antiepileptic medications.

In other words:

• Adjunctive therapy: the device is designed to be used along with medications, not in place of them
• Reducing the frequency of seizures: Nobody should expect the device to totally eleminate their seizures

In my words (from my site):

THE VAGUS NERVE STIMULATOR DOES NOT STOP SEIZURES!

• The VNS may reduce seizures although there is a fairly hefty percentage of people who experience no reduction in the number of seizures that they have after the device has been implanted. (As a matter of fact, the number of seizures has actually increased in a few cases!)
• The way I'm looking at this is: "Gee, it would be nice if the number of seizures could be reduced, I'd even be satisfied if the only thing the VNS did for me was to give me an aura before every seizure."
• The VNS is not a miracle machine, so I will not be absolutely crestfallen if I don't show any improvement after the implant.
• I believe that this is the only psychologically sound outlook that a prospective patient can adopt for him/herself.