Vaughn Family

Hi, my name is Jenny Olson and I'm fundraising for Sharise Vaughn and her family. ALWAYS willing to offer a helping hand, bring you soup when you are sick and the list goes on and on. I asked Sharise many times to allow me the privilege of starting a go fund me for her family. The idea is to only help them the way they help others every day. In Sharise's words... here is their story...

My son Garrett has epilepsy. He has what they consider ‘drug resistant epilepsy’ which means meds do not control his seizures. He had his first seizure at 13 and he just turned 28 in July. After years of trying different medicines, CBD, special diets (you name it we’d tried it) he still has multiple seizures each week. He’s had a few serious injuries over the years including several trips to the ER. Most recently, this past Memorial Day, he had a seizure while we were ordering lunch at Goodcents. He fell, hit his head and went by ambulance to the hospital for CT and 9 staples to the back of his head. One of the scariest moments of my life for sure!

It’s taken Garrett, and our family, several years to get to this point of being open to considering surgery as a treatment. At this point, we feel the risk of injury during a seizure outweighs the risks of the surgery itself. He has finally been scheduled/approved for a diagnostic surgery in October. The goal of this surgery is to determine where the seizures start in his brain. If they can find that spot they could possibly cauterize, place an implant, or remove the small area (depending on where it is). They already know the region of his brain from numerous CT scans, PET Scans, MRI’s and external EEGs. The surgery is a 4-5 hour procedure to place electrodes internally by making incisions, drilling thru his skull, and inserting a wire into his brain in about 15-20 areas. He will be hospitalized for 12-14 days afterwards for observation/monitoring of his seizures so they can gather info needed for a possible 2nd surgery to treat the area. We hope to get much needed answers to help him be seizure free or at least greatly reduce the number of seizures.

All that being said…his surgery is scheduled for Friday, October 27th here in Kansas City at KU. They are leading the nation in epilepsy research and we are blessed to have them so close.

I know your donation will be much appreciated and help to cover all those unexpected expenses. Thank you for your support!

Jenny