BRENTWOOD � A man with lifelong epilepsy credits Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center with giving him his life back.

The Epilepsy Center at Dartmouth-Hitchcock is on the forefront of epilepsy treatment and research, known for addressing difficult epilepsies with surgery and through advanced treatments such as the RNS (responsive neurostimulator by NeuroPace, Inc.). It is the only level 4 epilepsy center in Northern New England as recognized by the National Association of Epilepsy Centers, drawing patients from Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and western Massachusetts.

Kim Lord, 52, a self-employed landscaper, still has seizures because of his epilepsy but says he has gone from having as many as three or four a day, down to four or five a month. And that has allowed him a freedom he never had before. He has been a Dartmouth-Hitchcock patient since 1996.

Lord�s seizures started at age 3. He was implanted with the first VNS (vagus nerve stimulator) in 1998. He still had seizures and went through a variety of medications and drug studies then began using Neuropace. He had NeuroPace implanted in 2008, and is a patient ambassador for it. The NeuroPace is monitored by computer, allowing Lord�s doctor to keep track of his progress.

�I was referred to the Epilepsy Center by my neurologist in Exeter,� said Lord. �They couldn�t figure out my seizures, which I had been having since I was a little kid. I grew out of it at 13, but it returned when I was 16. One doctor in Boston told me I didn�t have epilepsy. I have been taking anti-seizure medication all my life and still was having multiple seizures a day.�

The frequency of Lord�s seizures greatly affected his quality of life.

�I was embarrassed to go out,� said Lord. �Sometimes my seizures would cause me to lose bladder control. At age 21, that is something hard to explain to people. I don�t drive, never have. I am too afraid of having a seizure while I do. My parents told me if I did drive and had a seizure while driving, the state could revoke my license for life anyway.�

Karen Secore, a neurology nurse practitioner, has been working at the epilepsy center since the day it opened.

�We have made so much progress in treatment,� said Secore. �We have developed better patient education, to help them understand the disease. We have new technologies and better testing to help determine whether the patient needs surgery, or if that is not an option and the disease must be managed with medication.�

One treatment involves using vagus nerve neurostimulation to try and locate the origin of a patient�s seizures. If possible, surgery is used to resect it and potentially resolve the seizures.

�Some patients can�t do this because their seizures have multiple sources in the brain,� said Secore. �Still, treatment and management has greatly improved over the years. We can determine what kind of seizure it is, where it�s coming from. Does it originate from one point or is it all over the brain.�

It used to be � throw another medication at it if the first doesn�t work. Now, Secore said, they can determine the source, and then use surgery to remove tissue, or to implant a stimulator.

�The temporal lobe seizures respond the best and we have a high percentage of patients who end up seizure-free,� said Secore. �We can do those in the frontal or occipital lobe here and we do them well but the seizure results can be less than with the temporal lobe. What I would say is that we work harder for those patients who have difficult epilepsies.�

Lord was not eligible for surgery. He hoped he would be.

�They did tests and when they came in, I could see it on their faces,� said Lord. �My seizures come from both sides of my brain. I was actually looking forward to brain surgery. I wanted the life I haven�t been able to have.�

Lord wanted change so badly he told his doctors that anything new that came up, he would try it.

�I wanted to be Dartmouth-Hitchcock�s guinea pig,� said Lord. �I did clinical trials with treatments not yet FDA approved.�

Since getting NeuroPace, a device planted in his brain with a battery pack outside, Lord said his seizures have reduced by 77 percent, from 150 seizures a month down to about five.

Lord loves Secore so much that he attended a party in honor of her upcoming retirement.

�Karen has been there for every appointment I ever had,� said Lord. �I have nothing but the highest praise for her. She is my biggest cheerleader.�

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