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Design Recovery Scripps Epilepsy Monitoring Unlocks a “Brainstorm” Mystery c s
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riana Collopy has always been a restless sleeper. So, when her boyfriend, Zack Wagner, told her in early 2021 that she appeared to be having seizures in her sleep, she brushed it off. Nearly 30 years old, she’d never had a seizure or any other health issues; she thought she just moved a lot in her sleep. He
brought up the seizures a few more times, but Collopy wasn’t concerned. During the next several months, her nighttime movements became so common that her boyfriend stopped mentioning them. Then in October 2021, she had a tonic-clonic seizure. Previously known as grand mal seizures, tonic-clonic seizures cause people to lose consciousness and have violent, uncontrollable muscle contractions. Wagner called 9-1-1 and Collopy woke up in the emergency department at Scripps Memorial Hospital Encinitas. She began taking seizure medication and went home. It was the beginning of a long journey to find a diagnosis and treatment.
18 SAN DIEGO HEALTH | FALL 2023
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