Boy who could die laughing; EPILEPSY.Byline: By STEWART MACLEAN MUM Lucy Hoggan has spoken of the agony she goes through every time she hears her son laugh - because it could one day kill him. Her three-year-old Cadell suffers the fits of manic laughter ten times a day from epileptic seizures Noun 1. epileptic seizure - convulsions accompanied by impaired consciousness convulsion - violent uncontrollable contractions of muscles generalized seizure, grand mal, epilepsia major - a seizure during which the patient becomes unconscious and has brought on by a benign brain tumour Noun 1. brain tumour - a tumor in the brain brain tumor neoplasm, tumor, tumour - an abnormal new mass of tissue that serves no purpose glioblastoma, spongioblastoma - a fast-growing malignant brain tumor composed of spongioblasts; nearly always . "It's frightening," says Lucy, 38. "Cadell may sound like he's laughing but his eyes are filled with fear. Afterwards he cries or wants a cuddle." Worried family look on in horror as the dangerous seizures begin and can do nothing until they subside sub·side intr.v. sub·sid·ed, sub·sid·ing, sub·sides 1. To sink to a lower or normal level. 2. To sink or settle down, as into a sofa. 3. To sink to the bottom, as a sediment. 4. . Doctors warned he will one day need pioneering surgery to remove the hypothalamic hamartoma Hypothalamic hamartoma (abbreviated as HH) is a congenital condition consisting of a mass of disorganized neuronal or glial tissue on or near the hypothalamus. HH is generally not detected on CT scans, and on MRI it is isointense to gray matter. - the "laughing tumour tumour or neoplasm Mass of abnormal tissue that arises from normal cells, has no useful function, and tends to grow. Cell abnormalities may include increased size or number or loss of characteristics that differentiate their tissue of origin. " - or he could die. Mum-of-four Lucy, of Aldershot, Hants, said: "It makes my stomach churn with fear." A member of support group HHUGS, Lucy is now hoping the rare condition can be spotted earlier after it took three years to diagnose him. CAPTION(S): FEAR Cadell, three |
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