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“I want every Australian living with epilepsy to be free from seizures. This is my life's work. The AEP team will make this a reality.”

Chief Investigator, Professor Graeme Jackson

10% of Australians will have a seizure in their lifetime

In the current medical system we can’t tell them why this might have happened or if it will happen again.

Our network of comprehensive imaging, genetics and cognitive assessment centres will give every Australian access to the expert analysis they need to inform their diagnosis and treatment.

The AEP is committed to creating access for all Australians.
A network of AEP Community Hubs will give all Australians living with epilepsy local access to this advanced testing to guide individualised epilepsy diagnosis and treatment.

“Everyone living with epilepsy will now have access to the best possible care – it will no longer matter which doctor you see, which hospital you go to or where you live. The AEP will make this happen”

Amanda Anderson, Lived Experience Ambassador

A LIFE WITHOUT SEIZURES ...

... IS WITHIN REACH

The Australian Epilepsy Project will change the lives of over 4,000 people with lived experience of seizures by 2025. That’s 4,000 people who will :

 

  • Be having fewer seizures

  • Be at lower risk of an epilepsy related injury or death

  • Have improved mental health

  • Have greater opportunity for workforce participation

  • Have an increased quality of life

THE AEP WILL RESULT IN FEWER SEIZURES, FEWER DEATHS AND BETTER LIVES

AMANDA'S STORY

I started having focal seizures at the age of 23.  I had to stop driving.  I had to stop studying. My whole life changed. Initially no one could tell me why I had epilepsy and medications were not helping.

My seizures got worse. They happened daily. I suffered third-degree burns from a seizure while cooking. I had infected cheeks and tongue from seizure related biting. I soiled my clothes from a seizure during work. By the age of 30 I felt isolated and full of guilt as I couldn’t even take my then two-year-old son to play dates.

My medical journey included three hospitals, three neurologists, a neuropsychologist, my GP, more tests than I can remember, four anti-seizure medications, a visit to ED, a naturopath, doctor of Chinese medicine and various diets.

After seven years I was lucky to be referred to the Austin Comprehensive Epilepsy Program after having an advanced MRI at The Monash that revealed scar tissue on my right temporal lobe, caused by encephalitis when I was nine months old. I was told brain surgery might be an option.

Shortly after, I had a focal seizure and two generalised tonic-clonic seizures through the night. My husband had to call the ambulance.  This event was quite traumatic and now surgery was starting to appear as my only option to control my epilepsy and regain my quality of life.

When I was 31 I had a Right Anterior Temporal Lobectomy at the Austin hospital and it was a success! When I was seizure free for a year after surgery, I was able to drive again after eight long years off the roads, the freedom was fantastic; I could go places by myself and had a new-found sense of control on my life. I had another baby. I completed a Bachelor of Social Science (Psychology) and am now working as the Lived Experience Ambassador for the Australian Epilepsy Project at The Florey.

In the 10 years since surgery, I have only had three seizures - and have accomplished much more than I expected. The epilepsy team at The Austin changed my life after years of uncertainty, trial and error, stress, and fatigue.

“Everyone living with the debilitating effects of epilepsy should have access to this world-leading care.”

RACHEL'S STORY

I experienced recurrent, convulsive seizures that began “totally out of the blue” at the age of 14. Like a third of people with epilepsy, my seizures didn’t respond to any known medications, most of which also left me suffering intolerable side effects.

I had violent seizures every single night, and it’s like having run a marathon after you’ve woken up from that. I couldn’t get up for school in the mornings and when I did make it into the classroom, I couldn’t take anything in. I couldn’t learn like I used to. I couldn’t socialise like everyone else. Seizures took over my life.

I thought I would have to live like this forever – that I wouldn’t be able to study or go to Uni or have a normal life until I met Professor Graeme Jackson at The Austin and he found a tiny part of my brain that was causing seizures, he said surgery was an option. To have surgery was a hard decision for me to make as an 18-year-old, but it was the best decision I could have made as it changed my life.

This year marks the five-year anniversary of the pioneering brain surgery that changed my life from the debilitating effects of my epilepsy.  Freeing me from the constant seizures that had dominated my life as a teenager.

Five years on, I’m living the kind of independent life I didn’t imagine would ever be possible for someone with my form of epilepsy.

I live away from home and have completed my Bachelor of Education to become a teacher. I am driving myself to teaching relief jobs and hoping to soon secure a fulltime teaching position in a primary school.

My experience living with epilepsy has led me to become involved in the Australian Epilepsy Project as a Lived Experience Ambassador, contributing important insights from a patient’s perspective into the design and development of this pilot project.  It doesn't seem right that I’m just one of the lucky ones, everyone should have access to this type of treatment.

 

BRIAN'S STORY

I had my first seizure when I was 21 years old in 2009, it was after a stressful period at university where I had been working extremely hard and having hardly any sleep.  The left side of my face felt strange and I felt myself falling back. I woke to paramedics around me and had bitten part of my tongue off after having a tonic clonic seizure. I was told it lasted about 20 minutes; it was a frightening experience as I had never experienced anything like this in my life. I had a sleep deprived EEG and MRI at The Austin, but they came back without an explanation for why I had a seizure. I was not put on medication as I wasn’t diagnosed with epilepsy, but I was scared I would have another seizure and I wasn’t allowed to drive for six months which made life tough. The constant thought of having another seizure was always there, especially when I started driving again.

Four years later, in 2013, I was at work and I felt a weird twitching in my left eye and saw a line of colours, this was my warning, I told my boss to call an ambulance. I woke sore, bruised and with a dislocated shoulder after what I later learned was another tonic clonic seizure. I went back to the Austin, had more advanced testing and this time I was diagnosed with epilepsy. This changed my life so much, I had to stop driving again and playing competitive basketball. The constant worry of when and where I will have another seizure played on my mind. I was given the opportunity with the Melbourne Brain Centre to trial a new drug, Eslicarbazepine, that was legal in Europe but still being trialled in Australia. I was checked up on frequently for seizure activity and mood.

It’s now been seven years and I have been seizure free the whole time. I feel less stressed about having any more seizures now as I know the drugs are controlling my epilepsy. Sometimes when I’m stressed, a get a black dot in my left eye, I feel this is a warning, so I take time out to rest and look after myself.

I am now 32, married and have three kids aged five, three and seven months and a challenging job directing film/tv and commercials. Life is stressful with a young family and demanding career but, in a different kind of way, a much better way than before my epilepsy was controlled. The Melbourne Brain Centre has given me an opportunity I don’t think I could have gotten from any hospital in Melbourne at the time. I fully support the Australian Epilepsy Project in making this possible for more people like me. I want others to have the same access to treatment that I was afforded for which I and my family are so very grateful.

THE AUSTRALIAN EPILEPSY PROJECT (AEP) IS A PLATFORM THAT WILL :

CONNECT people living with epilepsy and clinicians to GLOBALLY LEADING technology and treatment through a network of sites in each state and territory.

Collect, curate and OPENLY RELEASE multimodal data sets (advanced imaging, cognition, genetics, outcomes). Researchers will use this data to develop a deeper understanding of epilepsy and how to treat it.

SUPERCHARGE MEDTECH through using artificial intelligence and machine learning to bring new products and services to market.

The Australian Epilepsy Project (AEP) receives funding from the Australian Government under the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).

For more information, please contact us:

AUSTRALIA HAS THE BEST BRAIN SCIENCE IN THE WORLD. IT'S TIME TO USE IT.