Grace Lindgren had a brain tumor that was removed, but nearly two decades later, she was experiencing seizures about a few times a week. She had both generalized and gelastic seizures, which presented as violent muscle contractions and bouts of uncontrollable laughter, respectively.
“I almost was in a bubble, where I couldn’t go out without my mom or dad being right next to me. Always, an ambulance would have to be called,” says the now-24-year-old Grace, who has epilepsy. “The activities I could do even when I was home were limited because of how my brain was working and because of how many seizures I was having. It was that bad.”
Grace lives in Elburn, a Chicago suburb, and she was seeing Dr. Marvin Rossi, then a neurologist at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, before he moved to become the director of the Summa Health Comprehensive Epilepsy Center in Akron.
She sought different care in Chicago, but it wasn’t working.
“Other doctors would not seem to be listening to the anecdotal stuff.... Dr. Rossi, he listens,” says David Lindgren, Grace’s dad. “It really stuck out that he actually cares about his patients."
They followed Rossi to Summa Health, meeting with him virtually and then driving to Akron. It was worth the drive, David says, as Summa Health’s epilepsy center offers medication, surgery, psychiatric care, a diet clinic and more. It opened in 2021 and is one of only 200 of its kind in the country.
Rossi recommended Grace get a vagus nerve stimulator implanted. It sends electrical signals to the brain, decreasing the frequency and severity of seizures.
“The device is implanted in the left chest under the skin. ... The wire goes to the vagus nerve in the neck,” Rossi says, adding that the battery lasts about 10 years before needing to be replaced.
He determined it was right for Grace, who, like many with epilepsy, had developed a tolerance to the medications she was on.
“It would seem like it was working for a while, and then she’d start having seizures again,” David says.
She received the VNS in summer 2023 and has experienced great results.
“She already is doing much better,” says Rossi, adding that the VNS stimulates brain remodeling over a period of years. “Her seizures are already better controlled.”
Grace says she’s only had a few seizures since and credits her success to Rossi’s excellent care.
“He was always there for me, no matter what. He would come into the hospital room morning, day or night if something bad was happening,” she says. “He’s the best epileptologist out there."
