This story is one that will prove that moms will go to any lengths necessary for their children, so grab some tissues because you're going to need them! Tracy Dixon-Salazar’s daughter, Savannah, was a 2-year-old toddler when she first started having seizures.
“Both my husband and I went at the same time, ‘What’s a seizure,’” the 52-year-old mother explained to TODAY.com. “We actually went six months and she didn’t have any and then at the age of 3 they came back hard and fast. She started having hundreds of seizures a day.”
The mom went on to explain that doctors didn't call them seizures at first, instead referring to them as “episodes” or “spells.” Savannah was later diagnosed with epilepsy, but doctors didn’t want to diagnose her with it because they feared stigmatizing her. They also couldn't seem to figure out what was going on with her.
The frustrated mother decided to take matters into her own hands. She returned to school and earned her PhD. Tracy eventually discovered a mechanism that partially explains why Savannah, now 30, experienced her seizures. It also led her to discovering a treatment for Savannah that reduces the number of seizures she has.
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“I just wanted to understand what was going on with my child," Tracy explained. "I didn’t go into this thinking I was ever going to help her. That was a surprise to me.”