Only the - Cook Children's

3-D blockbuster
Kevin and Brandy Driggars knew only a normal, little boy until their son, Micheal, was 4 years
old. That’s when they received a phone call from Brandy’s brother, who was watching their
little boy, saying Micheal was acting strange. His eyes were blinking irregularly and he was
drooling uncontrollably.
The Driggars, who live in Purdon, Texas, took their son to an
area children’s hospital. For more than a month, Micheal saw
several different doctors and neurologists, but they didn’t find
any answers.
Finally, after a doctor viewed a videotape of one of his
seizures, Micheal was admitted into a hospital for monitoring.
That night, he had 13 seizures and medication was prescribed
to him, but it only made things worse. Doctors increased his
dosage, but he continued to have seizures despite taking the
maximum amount. Micheal was even saying he wanted to die.
By the time he was 8 years old, Micheal’s parents feared
for not only their son’s safety, but their own. He was taking
knives from the kitchen and climbing to the top of the family’s
entertainment center.
“We were getting to the point of having to commit him,” Kevin
Driggars said. “It was just too dangerous for us and his brothers
to be around him.”
When he was 12 years old, Micheal burned down an
abandoned house and ran away multiple times. He continued
to tell his parents he wanted to die. Doctors tried other drugs,
but they would only work for a short time before the seizures
returned. Micheal would have between five to 10 seizures a day
and his bouts of anger, strange behavior and fits of violence
continued.
Feeling she had no choice left, Brandy let Micheal hit her so
he could be taken away to a juvenile detention center. At least
then, she felt her two younger children would be safe. Micheal’s
condition was only getting worse.
Finally, their family doctor recommended Cook Children’s
Comprehensive Epilepsy Program to the Driggars family.
They scheduled an appointment with M. Scott Perry, M.D.,
a Cook Children’s neurologist and epilepsy specialist. At
Cook Children’s, the Driggars felt an immediate connection with
Dr. Perry.
Dr. Perry helped create a detailed map of Micheal’s brain
with 3-D imaging. Only a few children’s hospitals with the most
elite pediatric epilepsy programs use 3-D imaging, which gives
a unique look at the brain of a child with epilepsy. Dr. Perry
leads the 3-D project at Cook Children’s. He works closely with
software bio-engineer Joe Paugh to develop these special brain
images, allowing neurosurgeons and epileptologists to view the
brain like never before.
The journey to this special 3-D picture begins with a stay
in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit, where the patient receives
6 Children’s Promise | The magazine of Cook Children’s