Imagine being afraid to go to bed at night because of the seizures you know will wrack your body while you sleep. That’s what 26-year old Eli Mies had been feeling since he was a child. He has a kind of epilepsy that only strikes when the body is relaxed…which is mostly at night. He sought treatment and doctors used different medications over the years to try to control the nocturnal seizures, but eventually they stopped working.

               Eli needed surgery to remove the part of his brain causing the seizures. He had the procedure at The University of Kansas Health System, and it worked for a while, but after a few months the symptoms returned. Doctors say that’s common because it’s often hard to tell in the operating room whether they removed all of the problem brain cells. Fortunately, in November 2017, the Health System began using an amazing new piece of technology called interoperative magnetic resonance imaging (iMRI). It’s the only machine of its kind in the region. It allows the surgeon to do the procedure on one side of the large operating room, then move the patient, still under anesthesia, to the other side and immediately use the MRI to check whether all the bad tissue has been removed. If not, they can move the table back and get the rest. It saves the patient from multiple operations and allows much quicker recovery.

            Eli has now been seizure-free since the iMRI procedure, and couldn’t be happier. In fact, his father says Eli seems like a whole new person, and he’s more excited than Eli about the change.

            In the video, Dr. Paul Camarata, chair of neurosurgery at The University of Kansas Health System, says this procedure is a game changer for patients who need brain surgery due to tumors or other neurological disorders that require an operation. He describes how it works and why it was so helpful for Eli, especially keeping him from having to undergo more brain surgeries.

            Also on the video is Dr. Patrick Landazuri, Eli’s neurologist at The University of Kansas Health System. He talks about the problems Eli faced through most of his life and how surgery became the best option. He says Eli’s seizures have disappeared and he has a bright future.

Eli Mies and his father Paul Mies talk about what life was like for Eli before the procedure, and the amazing change he’s undergone since then. Eli says the difference is like night and day. His father says the biggest difference he sees is now Eli smiles a lot. “He’s back…it’s fantastic!”

The video also includes b-roll from Eli’s surgery, including the move to and from the iMRI, as well as Eli’s follow up visit with Dr. Landazuri.