A week after undergoing major brain surgery, little Samuel Methot has recovered so quickly he has impressed doctors so much that he has already returned home.
• Read more: Major brain surgery: Little Samuel on the road to recovery
• Read more: Rare brain surgery can cure boy with epilepsy
A boy with severe epilepsy was initially hospitalized 11 days after his delicate neurosurgical intervention.
He ended up staying in the hospital for eight days.
“He surprised the doctors and the neurologist,” says his mother, Maggie Perron, who is finally back home with her son.
“He’s fine”
He started walking again, and his facial expressions, one of his communication tools, are more and more, underlines M.me Peron.
“He’s fine, I’m happy. I’m hopeful,” she said.
What’s more, the 9-year-old boy had no seizures after surgery. “Great” news, her mother says.
Photo by DIDIER DEBUSSCHERE
“Warning is low”
Calm, Samuel also now has a “much more durable” look, says Mme Peron.
“Before, he was a lot distracted, changing position often, moving around a lot. After the surgery, I see that he is much more relaxed and less alert,” she explains.
On Friday, Samuel drew his first smile after his surgery, much to his mother’s delight. “I expected!” Did she say
Although his brain now processes information in a completely different way, his mother says that within two weeks he will be able to return to the benches of special school Madeleine-Bergeron.
Very rare surgery
On Wednesday last week, Samuel underwent a callosotomy at the Montreal Children’s Hospital, a procedure that has only been performed three times in the past ten years.
It aims to cut the corpus callosum, which connects the two hemispheres of the brain.
Its purpose is to reduce the number and severity of seizures, and to allow the electrical activity in the brain to be limited.
20 to 50 seizures per day
In the first years of his life, he lived with 20 to 50 seizures a day, causing him violent projections ahead.
More recently, Samuel suffered at least one attack a week, but “very serious”.
It can sometimes last up to 48 hours, requiring emergency hospitalization, her mother says.
An intervention over 8 hours
- February 22: Samuel Methot undergoes a rare brain procedure called a callosotomy at Montreal Children’s Hospital. The surgery lasts more than 8 hours.
- February 23: Samuel leaves intensive care.
- February 24: He responded well to his surgery. It avoids post-operative complications.
- March 2: Samuel returns home.
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