Family hopeful that surgery will stop seizures in teen

An Indianapolis teenager is recovering from risky brain surgery that might help him deal with one of his three medical conditions.

Lance Rice, 16, underwent surgery at Ohio's Cleveland Clinic this month in hopes of ending his epileptic seizures. A large chunk of his brain was removed.

The surgery was considered to be especially risky because has hemophilia. The blood disorder, combined with the surgery, could have led to strokes or hemorrhaging.

But Rice, a junior at Lawrence North High School, chose to go ahead with the operation, which he hopes will help his quality of life. He had, for the most part, stopped going out in public because he didn't want to explain his seizures to people.

Rice's epilepsy has been just one of his medical concerns. His hemophilia triggered a stroke when he was 5 days old. When he was 2, tainted blood products used to treat the hemophilia gave him hepatitis C.

After the seizures started in fifth grade, he took 11 pills daily, and none of them helped with the epilepsy. Sometimes, he had seizures three times a week.

"All of (the pills) do some damage since his liver is compromised already," Rice's father, Eric Rice, said.

The operation has offered hope. The teenager hasn't had a seizure in 21 days, 6News' Stacia Matthews reported.

"Already we can see a confidence in him. He sees a future," his mother, Michell Rice, said.
Doctors hope to begin weaning Lance Rice off his drugs in about six months. In about a year, doctors will have a better idea as to whether the surgery was a success, Matthews reported.