Does anyone know about the surgeries that are supposed to control
seizures? Has anyone had a successful/positive experience with surgery?
My 8 year old son recently began experiencing severe epilepsy and his
neurologist has seriously been considering surgery as a viable option
for him. I just read an article that talks about neurological surgery
in a really positive light.  Yet, something about it makes me uneasy.
Sending my 8 year old under the knife scares me.
-George

Here's the article. it's at heatlh.dailyenwscentral.com

epilepsy surgery seizures
At 30 years, 14 of the 48 study participants were free of seizures and
taking no epilepsy drugs; 10 people were free of seizures while taking
epilepsy medication.
People who had epilepsy surgery continued to do well long after having
their procedures -- even up to 30 years later -- according to anew
study published in the June 14 issue of Neurology, the scientific
journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

"Few studies have looked at the long-term prognosis for epilepsy
surgery," said neurologist and study author William H. Theodore, MD, of
the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke in
Bethesda, Md.

"We found that 50 percent of the patients were free of seizures 30
years after the surgery," he added.

Temporal Lobectomy

In epilepsy, surgery generally is considered for those whose seizures
do not respond to medication. The study involved people who had a
temporal lobectomy, which is the surgical removal of the portion of the
brain where seizures most often occur.

The study examined 48 people who had a temporal lobectomy at the
National Institutes of Health in Bethesda an average of nearly 30 years
previously. The patients or their families were questioned about
whether they had experienced seizures at one year after the surgery,
and at five, 10, and 30 years after the surgery.

Good Prognosis

At 30 years, 14 people were free of seizures and taking no epilepsy
drugs; 10 people were free of seizures while taking epilepsy
medication. Those who had seizures within the first year after surgery
were least likely to be free of seizures in the future.

"These results suggest a good prognosis for long-term seizure control
after temporal lobectomy," Theodore said.

The American Academy of Neurology, an association of more than 18,000
neurologists and neuroscience professionals, is dedicated to improving
patient care through education and research.

A neurologist is a doctor with specialized training in diagnosing,
treating and managing disorders of the brain and nervous system, such
as Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, multiple
sclerosis and stroke.

here's the link to the actual article
http://health.dailynewscentral.com/content/view/0001051/31//epilepsy_surgery.html