A Parent’s Guide to Your Child’s Epilepsy Diagnosis and Treatment

This week on Seizing Life ®, Dr. Doug Nordli, Chief of Pediatric Neurology at UChicago Medicine, provides a guide to help parents of children with epilepsy navigate their child’s diagnostic and treatment journey. Dr. Nordli lays out a roadmap for parents to follow from the initial concern that something is wrong, to getting a prompt neurologist appointment, through diagnostic testing, and the numerous options for both drug treatment and alternative options. Along the way, Dr. Nordli offers advice for communicating with doctors, seeking a second opinion, finding an epileptologist, and accessing quality epilepsy care.

While every child’s epilepsy journey is different, there are procedures, information, and choices that all parents should be made aware of as they proceed on their child’s individual diagnostic and treatment path. This episode is the “must-have guide” to help these parents access the best care for their child. Given the comprehensive nature of the information shared, this episode is a bit longer than most, but you’ll want to hear it all as Dr. Nordli thoughtfully and thoroughly charts a path for families new to the epilepsy diagnostic journey while also offering advice for fellow physicians in communicating and collaborating with patients and families on treatment decisions.

This episode is especially intended for parents with newly diagnosed children, however, no matter where you are in your epilepsy journey, you will find value in Dr. Nordli’s advice. If you are new to the Seizing Life ® podcast or to epilepsy in general, this is an excellent place to start, and if you know a parent of a child with epilepsy or a person with epilepsy, we urge you to share this episode with them.

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