Jennifer Mathews: Marcia Wysong traveled three hours to undergo an experimental treatment for a life-altering disease.
Marcia Wysong: What else do I have to lose by doing this? Go in there and do what you have to do. Let's take care of it.
Jennifer Mathews: Marcia has Epilepsy. As a small girl, she had her first seizures and was finally diagnosed in high school.
Marcia Wysong: I haven't had any answers, doctors putting me on different meds and switching me back and forth.
Jennifer Mathews: She takes 12 pills twice a day, but still has at least four seizures a month. Brain surgery was her only option for health until now.
Paul DesRosiers: This is an experimental treatment through replace an open surgery.
Jennifer Mathews: Dr. Paul DesRosiers will try to stop Marcia's seizures by directing 201 beams of radiation to the part of her brain that causes the seizures.
Paul DesRosiers: We localize the area of diseased brain on MRI scans, and then target the radiation to that area. We give a very high dose to a small area of diseased brain.
Jennifer Mathews: Marcia is one of the first in the US to have this treatment. She's treated in this machine, and she'll be home in just one day. In one European study, 18 of 20 treated patients became seizure-free. She'll have to wait to know if the treatment worked for her, but for now, her hopes are set high. This is Jennifer Mathews reporting.
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