Nathan's Medical Journey
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Nathan Koops, age 31, is a husband and a father of two beautiful children. ages 5 and 1. In the spring of 2016, Nathan participated in the evacuation of the Fort McMurray, AB wildfire crisis. He also returned and participated as a first responder to help fight the wildfires, via the mutual aid program through his work. During and post this period, Nathan has also experienced other unfortunate traumatic events in his personal life; to name just a few, the birth experience of his daughter and the near death experience of his son. Not to isolate one as a cause over another, in June 2016 Nathan began to display serious physical symptoms of distress, as the intensity and effects of Nathan’s numerous past traumas came to a head. Symptoms included such things as night terrors, panic attacks, head jerking, disassociations, a form of seizures and other more sensitive issues. To date, Nathan has been diagnosed with Unspecified Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and Anxiety Disorder, with one of the most debilitating symptoms being, what is suspected to be, Psychogenic Non-Epileptic Seizures (PNES). In terms of Nathan’s recovery, ground has been gained and lost for the family on many fronts and there is still a long road ahead for them.
Recently, there has been very positive talk of the opportunity for Nathan to be seen and receive specialized care and treatment for his condition through the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group in Manhattan, New York. This center provides an exceptional team of doctors, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and EEG technicians. In particular, Nathan would be under the team care of Dr. Lorna Myers, PH.D., who has worked with individuals with PNES for over 10 years, and is author of, “Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures: A Guide", an excellent resource for patients and loved ones who are seeking information on the condition and treatment options. Dr. Myers holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the City University of New York, completed a two-year internship at Bellevue Hospital Center, and a two-year postdoctoral program in neuropsychology at NYU. Since 2001, she has been actively working with a number of her colleagues in designing and refining educational and treatment programs for PNES. They have also spent several years perfecting the battery of neuropsychological and psychological tests that they administer during the assessment phase in order to produce a clearer picture of treatment targets. Dr. Myers is the Co-chair of the American Epilepsy Society PNES Work Group, the Co-chair of the PNES Special Interest Group at the American Epilepsy Society and a certified Prolonged Exposure Treatment (PE) therapist and supervisor. Prolonged exposure therapy is a treatment specifically designed to treat PTSD. This therapy has been shown to be one of the most effective treatments for PTSD. They have been treating patients who are dually diagnosed with PNES/PTSD with this form of treatment targeting the PTSD in particular and with very promising results in patients who received this therapy (Source: www.nonepilepticseizures.com).
What a wonderful opportunity God has opened up that Nathan might have the chance to be under the care of such a specialized team of professionals who are so educated in his condition. However, an opened opportunity such as this comes with great expense, especially when considering that Nathan may need to be under the team’s care for 6-7 weeks internationally, with the extra weight of the American currency. Hence the reasoning behind this GoFundMe campaign. Nathan’s initial consultation appointment has been scheduled for September 19th, 2017 and would need the funds by this time. Funds gathered from this campaign would support Nathan for things like medical treatments, family travel, childcare, accommodations, food and local transportation. Thank you in advance for any support you can contribute to Nathan and his family as they seek out this new hopeful treatment opportunity.
To learn more about this story please also follow this link below for a CBC Radio interview done by Nathan's loving wife Sarah.
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/new-brunswick/programs/informationmorningmoncton/sarah-koops-dealing-with-ptsd-1.4208261
Recently, there has been very positive talk of the opportunity for Nathan to be seen and receive specialized care and treatment for his condition through the Northeast Regional Epilepsy Group in Manhattan, New York. This center provides an exceptional team of doctors, neuropsychologists, psychiatrists, clinical psychologists, and EEG technicians. In particular, Nathan would be under the team care of Dr. Lorna Myers, PH.D., who has worked with individuals with PNES for over 10 years, and is author of, “Psychogenic Non-epileptic Seizures: A Guide", an excellent resource for patients and loved ones who are seeking information on the condition and treatment options. Dr. Myers holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the City University of New York, completed a two-year internship at Bellevue Hospital Center, and a two-year postdoctoral program in neuropsychology at NYU. Since 2001, she has been actively working with a number of her colleagues in designing and refining educational and treatment programs for PNES. They have also spent several years perfecting the battery of neuropsychological and psychological tests that they administer during the assessment phase in order to produce a clearer picture of treatment targets. Dr. Myers is the Co-chair of the American Epilepsy Society PNES Work Group, the Co-chair of the PNES Special Interest Group at the American Epilepsy Society and a certified Prolonged Exposure Treatment (PE) therapist and supervisor. Prolonged exposure therapy is a treatment specifically designed to treat PTSD. This therapy has been shown to be one of the most effective treatments for PTSD. They have been treating patients who are dually diagnosed with PNES/PTSD with this form of treatment targeting the PTSD in particular and with very promising results in patients who received this therapy (Source: www.nonepilepticseizures.com).
What a wonderful opportunity God has opened up that Nathan might have the chance to be under the care of such a specialized team of professionals who are so educated in his condition. However, an opened opportunity such as this comes with great expense, especially when considering that Nathan may need to be under the team’s care for 6-7 weeks internationally, with the extra weight of the American currency. Hence the reasoning behind this GoFundMe campaign. Nathan’s initial consultation appointment has been scheduled for September 19th, 2017 and would need the funds by this time. Funds gathered from this campaign would support Nathan for things like medical treatments, family travel, childcare, accommodations, food and local transportation. Thank you in advance for any support you can contribute to Nathan and his family as they seek out this new hopeful treatment opportunity.
To learn more about this story please also follow this link below for a CBC Radio interview done by Nathan's loving wife Sarah.
http://www.cbc.ca/beta/news/canada/new-brunswick/programs/informationmorningmoncton/sarah-koops-dealing-with-ptsd-1.4208261
Organizer
Nathan Koops
Organizer
Fort Mcmurray, AB