"Miracle" outcome of epilepsy surgery

Epilepsy affects nearly three million people in the U.S., unfortunately, one-third of those people will not respond to medications.

On "The Early Show" CBS News Correspondent Michelle Miller shared the story of one man who tried everything to stop his seizures, including a risky surgery that could've left him paralyzed.

Sleeping through the night has never been easy for Danny Jakubowitz. He says he never gets a full night's sleep. His nightmare? Nocturnal seizures caused by epilepsy.

For the past 21 years, he's had to endure countless seizures.

Jakubowitz said he had his first seizure when he was just 6 years old.

Since then, he's been seeking treatment at New York's Montefiore Medical Center.

"I could really call (the hospital) a home," he said. "I don't even really have to call it a home away from home. I've been here more than I've probably been in one house for a period of time."

For years, doctors monitored Jakubowitz's seizures while he slept. His neurologist, Dr. Sheryl Haut, says he could suffer up to 20 a night.

Haut said, "He would suddenly awaken from sleep often with make a loud noise, make a grimace, sometimes he even had a laugh and then he would get very stiff and turn over in the bed, and this was out of his control, his body was turning over by itself and it was very uncomfortable and scary for him."

The lack of deep sleep was beyond tiring, and the seizures, beyond grueling.

Jakubowitz said, "Having epilepsy just killed my self-esteem and my self-worth and all that. None of my other friends had you know, epilepsy or anything and it was you know, I just wanted to be normal, one of the guys."

Jakubowitz tried almost everything, from medications to a strict diet regimen to implanting a nerve stimulator. Nothing worked. The only thing he hadn't tried was surgery. Until recently, with the advances in technology, Jakubowitz became a candidate when doctors were able to pinpoint the likely source of his seizures.

Haut said, "The more testing that we did, the more we realized that the area where the seizures was coming from was extremely close to his motor strip, and that's the area that helps you move and gives you motor function. So we were increasingly concerned that the surgery might cause him to be paralyzed."

Jakubowitz said, "(There was a chance) I might not be able to use my left arm, my left leg, but there's also a big chance I might not have seizures and I was ready to accept that."

He endured two brain surgeries, one to map out the functions of his brain, another to remove the lesion that caused him to have epilepsy.

The surgery was a resounding success. Jakubowitz has been seizure-free for five months and has no signs of paralysis.

"We don't see a lot of patients who have that many seizures who can function as well as Danny does," Haut said. "And frankly, we consider his surgical outcome to be somewhat of a miracle here."

Jakubowitz said, "Just knowing that I don't have the seizures is a huge load off my back."

Co-anchor Chris Wragge added on "The Early Show" that approximately 200,000 new cases of seizures and epilepsy are diagnosed each year. Jakubowitz told our show he wanted to share his personal story to provide hope for those suffering from epilepsy that they too might one day become seizure-free.