Aug 4
RCC Student Stays Focused on Education Despite Brain Surgeries
Twenty-four-year-old Kellee Chavis of Rockingham is happy to have one or two seizures a day. That is much better than the nearly 30 to 40 seizures she used to have in one day. Her goal is to be seizure free, as well as graduate from college and drive her own car again.
Thanks to the advances of modern medicine, this Richmond Community College student with epilepsy is well on her way to achieving all three of those goals.
An Undiagnosed Birth Defect
Chavis was born with epilepsy, but it went undetected and undiagnosed until she was in her 20s.
“When I was really young, I would have what my mom called day-dreaming spells,” Chavis said. “Otherwise, I was a healthy, normal kid. I did well in school and even graduated high school early because I was so far ahead in my studies.”
A graduate of Scotland High School in Laurinburg, Chavis decided she wanted to become a nurse, so she completed the first step of becoming a certified nursing assistant. However, she started having trouble remembering things, and dizzy spells would leave her unfocused and exhausted.
“I didn’t know what was going on. I would be walking down the hall and almost fall over,” she said. “I thought I was stupid because I couldn’t remember anything, and I would get mad and really depressed.”
Chavis’ doctor put her on some medicine for anxiety, which only made the dizzy spells worse. She lost 20 pounds because she was throwing up so much, and her lapses in memory continued. She lost her job working at a hospital because her forgetfulness was affecting her performance.
In an effort to do something other than sit at home, she enrolled in accounting classes at RCC, but she had to drop out after one semester.
3 Years Gone
Chavis can’t remember the last three years of her life. Her sister got married, but she doesn’t remember the wedding. She turned 21 years old, but she doesn’t remember celebrating at a local restaurant.
During this time, Chavis was having complex partial seizures, which impair consciousness or can cause people to lose consciousness entirely. People experiencing one may appear spaced out for a moment or perform an odd repetitive behavior.
Chavis experienced one of these major seizures while driving in downtown Rockingham, and she had a bump up with another vehicle. While no one was seriously hurt, Chavis was taken to a hospital in Chapel Hill to have a brain scan. At the same time, her regular doctor was putting all the pieces together, and Chavis was finally diagnosed with epilepsy.
Unfortunately, the seizures damaged areas of her brain, and she will never get the past three years of her life back.
“I do have pictures that I can look at, so I know what happened during those years,” Chavis said.
Returning to a Normal Life
Today, Chavis walks confidently across the campus of RCC as she gets her class schedule figured out for fall semester. She carries a magnet in a bedazzled snuff can holder made by a friend of her mom’s. She uses this magnet to scan her head if she experiences a seizure, and it will record where the seizure occurred. Inside her head is a NeuroPace, a pacemaker that provides responsive neural stimulation to her brain when it detects an impending seizure.
Every night, Chavis downloads the information from the magnet, and she runs another scanner over her head that is hooked to her computer. She then sends all the data to a neurologist in the epilepsy unit at Chapel Hill so her brain waves can be monitored and the NeuroPace adjusted as needed.
“I was told that I’d be somewhat of a guinea pig with this type of operation and treatment because it’s so new, but my only other option was to have my left temporal lobe removed from my brain. I didn’t want to do that,” Chavis said.
She had the last of three brain surgeries in May to get the device implanted in her head.
“Once they turned the device on, the number of seizures I was having immediately started to go down,” Chavis said. “It’s been a process of figuring out where the electrodes need to be to disrupt the seizures, but I have actually had a seizure free day.”
Chavis has a large scar over her right ear from the 60 staples used to close the incision from her surgeries, but her hair is quickly growing back and covering it up.
“I went to the beach right after my last surgery, and some woman was staring at my head, which looked like it had been chewed on. I told her I had been attacked by a shark,” Chavis said. “You should have seen how big that woman’s eyes got.”
Staying Positive
Chavis doesn’t let her situation get her down anymore. She stays focused on a future without seizures.
“I am so excited to see the incredible improvement in Kellee’s health. I tease her that she is a bionic woman who just won’t give up,” said RCC Disability Services Coordinator Debbie Spurlin, who has helped Chavis transition back into the classroom. “She is one of the most motivated students I have ever worked with. She refuses to let life’s challenges get in the way of her education, and she is a role model for others.”
Chavis is enrolled in RCC’s Healthcare Management Technology program, which prepares students for employment in healthcare business and financial operations. She can take most of her classes online this semester, which is a huge plus for her since she can’t get her driver’s license back until she is seizure free for six months.
She has access to tutoring through RCC’s Academic Success Center if she needs it, and her instructors have also provided her with accommodations that will keep her on a level playing field with other students.
Chavis hopes to graduate next May, and one of her doctors, Dr. Karen D. Sullivan of Pinehurst Neuropsychology, has already offered to hire her to handle insurance and billing in her medical office. Because of Chavis’ steadfast positive attitude, Sullivan also suggested she provide counseling for other epileptic patients who are struggling to live normal lives.
A Lot to Live For
Chavis celebrates every day of fewer seizures. She has more energy, and her mind is finely sharp again. She recently got engaged and looks forward to a wedding she will remember. She also looks forward to the independence and freedom of being able to drive.
“I can’t wait until I can drive my car again. You’ll know it’s me going down the road because I’ll have my country music playing loud and I’ll be singing right along.”
Sign Up for Fall Semester
Final new student registration for fall classes at RCC will be from 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 3 to 6 p.m. Aug. 11-13. Students with documented disabilities are encouraged to contact RCC’s Disability Services counselor to discuss needed accommodations.