Extraordinary People - Living with Half a Brain (First aired: 10/1/2007)6 year-old Cameron suffers from extreme epilepsy, the only cure for which is a high-risk operation to remove half her brain. At Great Ormond Street Hospital, teenager Sean has his brain wired to a monitor as doctors try to locate the source of his own seizures. This film follows the progress of both patients as they undergo these radical procedures and begin the road to recovery.
When she was three, Cameron Mott developed Rasmussen's encephalitis. This rare, devastating and progressive brain disorder attacks the right side of the person's brain, causing a rapid decline in mental faculties and - if left untreated - eventually leading to partial paralysis.
Cameron's condition has left her with extreme epilepsy. Her daily life is plagued by sudden and frequent fits, forcing her to wear a protective helmet at all times. She is only free from the fits for 30 minutes at the beginning of every day, before she collapses and falls victim once more to the relentless cycle of seizures. This film follows the Mott family as they travel from their home in North Carolina to the Johns Hopkins Medical Institute in Baltimore for a radical treatment. Cameron is about to undergo a complex operation called a hemispherectomy, which is the last resort for doctors treating children with her condition.
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During seven hours of surgery, led by Dr George Jallo, chunks of the right side of Cameron's brain are painstakingly removed. Though the operation is incredibly delicate and difficult, time is of the essence, since the cavity left in Cameron's head fills with cerebral-spinal fluid at a rate of a teaspoonful every five minutes. Once surgery is over, Cameron is immobilised - any movement could dislodge the remaining half of her brain. For 48 hours, Shelley and Casey Mott cannot hold or hug their little daughter.
And at London's Great Ormond Street Hospital, teenager Sean has his brain wired to a monitor as doctors try to locate the source of his own seizures. This film follows the progress of both patients as they undergo radical procedures and begin the road to recovery.
