nov. 9, 2016
tribal people
With reappearing seizures, student hopes surgery will help cure her health struggle Einah Park
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problem. By the time she was old enough to have a formal diagnosis of epileptic seizures, they had ceased. Now the seizures are returning for round three: once in her childhood, once at the beginning of high school, and now, with a rare condition. “There is no literature on the cyst ever hemorrhaging, ever, and there is no literature on there being a familial tendency,” said Ainslie’s mother, Carolyn Newton, a nurse practitioner. Ainslie and her younger sister Ailise Newton, an eighth grader at Moultrie Middle School, are a case study because their conditions are so rare. Their problems were not hereditary or genetically related, which only makes the case even more unique. “It’s so different because she’s [Ailise] always been super healthy, and she’s always had nothing wrong with her,” Ainslie said. “I thought it was something for her to go through, and so it taught her the same lessons it’s taught me.” They had surgery for the removal of their cysts within the same year, although Ailise never had seizures. Ainslie continuously talked about her time at the hospital and is quick to explain her medical condition with numerous statistics and medical information. After high school, she wants to major in health science and eventually go into nursing. “I’m in the CNA [Certified Nursing Aid] program right now because I want to be a nurse
practitioner because of how much time I’ve spent in the hospital,” Ainslie laughed, looking down at her hands. “I’ve literally been in the hospital in and out my whole life.” Hearing about her cyst and potential brain tumor, Ainslie wasn’t infuriated at the world or moping about her condition; she wasn’t surprised. After the big seizure at Towne Center, Ainslie had surgery Nov. 2 to remove the cyst, and is continuing her recovery at home. “You have to be careful about everything you do. You can’t take a bath. You’re not really supposed to be alone,” Ainslie said. “It takes away a lot of your freedom.” Mrs. Newton took off work to care for her daughters. “Ailise developed symptoms one day at home, it was June,” Mrs. Newton said. “She couldn’t see for about two days and had a headache for about 20 hours. An MRI came back and it [the cyst] was abnormal on Ailise. I took a two week leave of absence to care for her. “Then, Ainslie had had her seizures restart after a four week break and I had to stop working to care for her in 2012,” Mrs. Newton continued. Having seizures in the duration of all her life, Ainslie has experienced more than the average teen and took valuable life lessons from her medical condition. “It definitely teaches you what’s important versus what’s really not,” Ainslie said. “It’s taught me who my real friends are and how thankful I am to have my friends and my family because without them I have no idea where I’d be.”
Kat Kolleger// photo
school life afterwards, enjoying her time as a senior. That easy life ended Oct. 1. “I was at dinner and I started having a huge seizure in the middle of Towne Center, on the concrete, and it lasted eight minutes, which is deadly,” Ainslie said. Once more, the blame was the same. She was brought to the hospital and had an MRI scan [A medical scan to take internal pictures] to see if the doctors could find a fault and some answers. “I had an MRI scheduled anyway....But when they looked at my MRI they found a mass on my pituitary gland, and it’s been bleeding into my brain for the past year and a half,” Ainslie said. The bleeding cyst was found to possibly the root cause of Ainslie’s condition. “It was a blessing in disguise that I started having seizures again,” she said. “If I hadn’t had that done, my hormones would have stopped working.” The doctors began to believe it could have been caused by a particular medication she was prescribed. With this knowledge, they could take action. “They think it might be causing it so I’m praying that it’s causing my seizures and it’ll be all over,” Ainslie said. “But if not, then I still have to deal with that.” When Ainslie was younger, it was too early to determine her seizures as a serious epileptic
“I’ve literally been in and out of the hospital my whole life...I’m excited to get it [surgery] over with.” Senior Ainslie Newton
Kat Kolleger// photo
Kat Kolleger// photo
Seizures are hard to understand. There are different types, all unique and terrifying in their own way. For senior Ainslie Newton, seizures are different every time. Sometimes they are over quickly. Sometimes she forgets where she is. Sometimes she feels like she’s falling down even if she’s sitting. Suffering seizures off and on for much of her life, Ainslie hopes the worst is over after undergoing surgery to remove a cyst on her pituitary gland. She has suffered seizures for almost all her life, starting with febrile seizures, a type that generally affects young children during a fever reaching up to 104 degrees. Since then, her episodes have unfurled into epileptic seizures. “I stopped having them because I thought I outgrew them,” Ainslie said. “When I was in school I started having a bunch of convulsing [seizures] and just where I feel weird and am not able to move.” She was sure that her seizures were finished for good, until she started getting them again in high school after four years being seizure-free. They would come, on and off, all because of an increase in medication to control her seizures. Ainslie would have to be home schooled her freshman year, and be in and out during her sophomore year. “After 10th grade, I didn’t have any more [seizures] because I figured I was intoxicated from how much medicine I was on and after that, I didn’t have any seizures for two years which was really awesome,” Ainslie said. “And then all of a sudden, probably a month ago, I had one at my house which was really bizarre.” This seizure was unexpected, so Ainslie and her family didn’t think much about it. They blamed it on the amount of medication she had been prescribed. She continued living her normal high
provided// photo
features editor
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Mackenzie Ivey // illustration
‘Blessing in disguise’
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(From left) Senior Ainslie Newton holds hands with friend senior Kat Kollegger while still on IVs. Newton, who had a cyst removed from her pituitary gland, looks out the window after her surgery at the Medical University of South Carolina Children’s Hospital on Nov. 2. Newton hugs Kollegger during her visit at the hospital. Newton laughs with friend junior Olivia Hill at her home while she rests in her