After 20 epileptic fits a day and eight brain operations, Millie gets all-clear

Published on Friday 5 February 2010 20:59

A LITTLE girl who suffered from 20 epileptic fits a day, was stuck in a wheelchair, and has never been able to communicate, should now be able walk and talk, according to doctors.

Six-year-old Millie Mackenzie from Dunfermline, Fife, underwent eight brain operations last year.

More than a quarter of her brain has been removed, in pioneering surgery at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. Now her neurosurgeon has given her the all-clear.

He also concluded there was nothing wrong with the speech and walking part of her brain, so she can learn to walk and talk.

However, he said she will have to learn the skills "like a baby".

Her mother, Kelly Mackenzie, 39, said yesterday it felt "too good to be true".

She said: "We never thought this could happen. Our biggest hope with the operations was to reduce the seizures.

"We never imagined her to be seizure and medicine free."

She added that she was still living "day by day".

"The doctor said he expects things to keep going upwards and he doesn't see her having any problems with epilepsy or seizures again.

"I am still afraid that something bad will happen as soon as I think and act like everything is fine. I still carry my emergency case for her seizures everywhere we go."

The first operation in February last year immediately had a positive effect on Millie, whose condition had been so severe that she spent most of her time in a wheelchair and could hardly speak.

Her parents were told by the doctors she only had a 30 per cent chance of being completely seizure-free. But Millie has not had any seizures for a year now and since November has been off of all medication.

Her mother said her daughter was making huge progress.

"Millie is really starting to understand what we're saying.

"Before we never knew if she understood us – there was never a response. Now we're getting clear answers. She has whole conversations in her own language, like toddlers do."

And her daughter was also showing signs of trying to walk.

"Before the operation she was perfectly happy sitting in her wheelchair on the sidelines," she said.

"Now she is trying to get the seat belt off as if she wants to join her peers."

But she added that she had to relearn everything.

"She's more or less back in the baby-stage. She has to learn everything. She is like a sponge. She takes everything in."

Mrs Mackenzie said her daughter's improved health had had a knock-on effect on the whole family.

She said they feel like a "normal" family again, since Millie's recovery.

"We can do things now we never could before," she said.

"Holidays and eating out in restaurants used to be very stressful – because you never knew if or when she would have a seizure.

"And I didn't let her out of my sight. I couldn't bear the thought that she would have a possible fatal seizure when I wasn't there.

"Now my mum and dad can take her away for the day and do all the things normal grandparents can do."

To celebrate the whole family, including her father Mark, 37, and sister Robyn, 19, is going to Disneyland Paris, a prize Millie won with Cineworld's 'Up' online competition.

They will leave the day before Millie's seventh birthday. in April.

"Her last birthday was in the hospital and it's the first family holiday we'll have without having to worry about her seizures so it's a wonderful way to celebrate," said her mother.