‘I only have half a brain’

A girl named Jodie was three when she started having seizures, and she was diagnosed with a rare disease, Rasmussen’s encephalitis.

Jodie had her first seizure when she was at her day care playing,and the next thing she knew she was in an ambulance. Lynn Miller, Jodie’s mother, said she went to the hospital and just watched Jodie. Jodie had a seizure again the next day, but nothing the doctors did worked.

Jodie then started having seizures regularly, constantly falling to the left and it got really bad that one of her family members had to be at her left side all the time. Jodie even started having seizures every three minutes!

Jodie’s condition causes chronic inflammation of the brain, usually in one hemisphere. The doctors explained that there was only one way to treat her, and it was to take out the half of the brain that was affected. The doctors hoped that if they removed Jodie’s right side of her brain, the left side would compensate and take over the right side’s functions.

Jodie had the operation the same year, when she was three. It was a success and her seizures stopped. Before the operation, her  rain might have even started to rewire itself! However, the signs of what had happened was limited movement in Jodie’s left arm and a limp. Jodie is still very positive despite only having half a brain.

Imagine taking out half of your brain. Life may be a bit awkward for you if people know that you only have half a brain, but according to Jodie, her life was no different than anybody else. She has been married for four years and has been living with her husband. Jodie is very grateful to her parents for what they did, because if she had the surgery any later, she might not be alive today.

I think that Jodie’s story is really touching. Despite only having half a brain she is still positive and thinks that her life is no different than a normal person’s life. We should all learn to be like Jodie, to be positive and never give up.

Reference: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-39117532

Desiree Lim

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