Baby a blessing for woman who had deep brain stimulation for epilepsy

When Sheri Finstad looks down at her son, Isaac, in her arms, she says it amazes her. Sheri has epilepsy and up until a few years ago was suffering from seizures that couldn’t be controlled with medication.

In 2013, as her seizures became worse and more frequent, Sheri lost some of her independence. There were even times she thought she’d never be able to be a mom. Sheri underwent a brain mapping procedure at Mayo Clinic in 2014 to determine if she would be a candidate for epilepsy surgery. While surgery wasn’t an option, Sheri was a candidate for a new device that helps control seizures using tiny electrical pulses ― sort of like a pacemaker for the brain.

Once her seizures were under better control with the brain stimulation, Sheri talked to her care team about her desire to become a mother. In February of 2021, baby Isaac was born. Sheri’s seizures aren’t completely gone. She still has about one per month in her sleep, and she’ll continue to see her neurologists for follow-ups and adjustments.
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