Together we can make a difference for Mia and all people with epilepsy

Dear Friends,

Thanks to your generosity in supporting our FACES fundraiser last fall, we raised over $55,000 that will fund critical research to improve epilepsy care and advance new treatment therapies! THANK YOU!!

As you know, FACES (Finding a Cure for Epilepsy and Seizures) is affililated with NYU Langone Health and its Comprehensive Epilepsy Center where Mia currently receives care from Dr. Orrin Devinsky. Dr. Devinsky and his entire team also thank you for your generous support.  

For Mia, and the 3 million other people in the US and 65 million people around the world affected by epilepsy, it is disheartening to know there is no cure for this neurological condition.  Fortunately, however, in many cases, seizures can be controlled with treatment.   Thanks to research efforts of organizations like FACES, new treatment therapies and medications have been developed to better manage this condition and decrease the frequency of seizures.   

Epilepsy is a chronic condition that affects many parts of a person’s life and leads to a loss of independence.  Because you never know when a seizure will occur, many everyday activities like taking a shower, crossing a busy street, or walking down a flight of stairs become dangerous.   Also, because these types of seizures can cause serious injury or death, Mia needs to be monitored at all times and wears a seizure detection bracelet while sleeping or whenever she is on her own.  This condition has changed her life forever.

As many of you know, just a month after last year’s event, Mia suffered another grand mal seizure that started a challenging four-month stretch where she suffered six seizures and endured two brain surgeries. Over this period, Mia's doctors experimented with various combinations of epilepsy medications in an effort to get the seizures under control. Although the medication protocol kept her seizure-free for over six months, sadly Mia suffered a seizure in late July and another one this past week.

Following this most recent seizure, Mia’s doctors have started her on a third epilepsy medication, amplifying the side effects that have already impacted her quality of life.  We are hopeful that with continued research, new medications and treatment therapies will advance to the point where people like Mia do not need to suffer such debilitating side effects in an attempt to lead a seizure-free life.

As Dr. Devinsky writes:

“FACES is a family, a community working together to make a difference in the lives of those touched by epilepsy. Among the 3 million Americans with epilepsy, nearly 1 million have uncontrolled seizures and 2 million suffer from their medication's side effects. Too many lives are limited and injured by epilepsy and its treatment. We are committed to honor our twofold mission: to help one person at a time, but also to focus our efforts on research that could impact numerous lives.”

Our family remains more committed than ever to doing all that we can to advance epilepsy research and care with the hope that it will improve the quality of life for Mia and for all people that suffer from epilepsy. 

We appreciate your support of this mission and look forward to seeing all of you on September 21!

All our best,

Cindy, Brian, Mia and Zoe