COPP FIGHTS BATTLE; NEW USC PLAYER DEALS WITH ADVERSITY.Byline: Lee Barnathan Daily News Staff Writer Aimee Copp sits up in bed, her eyes focused straight ahead. She knows something terrible is about to happen. Panic and fear overtake her. ``I'm going to die right now,'' she thinks. Her vision narrows. She hears everything in echo. One by one, she loses her senses. Then everything goes black and Copp falls unconscious for between 20 and 30 minutes. For the last seven years, Copp, now a USC An abbreviation for U.S. Code. basketball player, has lived with epilepsy epilepsy, a chronic disorder of cerebral function characterized by periodic convulsive seizures. There are many conditions that have epileptic seizures. Sudden discharge of excess electrical activity, which can be either generalized (involving many areas of cells in . ``She deals with it every day,'' USC coach Chris Gobrecht said. ``It's a real part of her life. She is able to play with it and it doesn't endanger en·dan·ger tr.v. en·dan·gered, en·dan·ger·ing, en·dan·gers 1. To expose to harm or danger; imperil. 2. To threaten with extinction. her.'' Little is known about epilepsy, or seizure disorder Seizure Disorder Definition A seizure is a sudden disruption of the brain's normal electrical activity accompanied by altered consciousness and/or other neurological and behavioral manifestations. . It can be linked to heredity heredity, transmission from generation to generation through the process of reproduction in plants and animals of factors which cause the offspring to resemble their parents. That like begets like has been a maxim since ancient times. , head injury, brain tumor Brain Tumor Definition A brain tumor is an abnormal growth of tissue in the brain. Unlike other tumors, brain tumors spread by local extension and rarely metastasize (spread) outside the brain. or infection, or chemical imbalances chemical imbalance Psychology A popular term of uncertain utility, which refers to a belief that many, if not all, mental disorders are attributable to a disequilibrium of one or more neurotransmitters . Seizures can happen several times a day - at any time of day or night - or once every few years. Some people receive visual warnings (auras) and some don't. There also are several types of seizures. The symptoms aren't the only things Copp fights. Ignorance is just as formidable an opponent. At Fullerton High, her teachers and peers couldn't understand why she was out of school all the time. ``They see how strong and fit I look. They just can't believe it,'' Copp said. ``Some think, `Oh, no big deal.' Some think you're retarded. Some think, `Do you have to wear a helmet?' '' Her sophomore year in high school was her most difficult time. She spent so much time out of school as doctors tried to determine the cause of the seizures and the proper medication to control them that she couldn't pass her classes. When she was in class, she often suffered absence seizures absence seizure n. A brief, sudden loss of consciousness symptomatic of petit mal epilepsy. , in which she would be unable to process information for between three and seven seconds. To her peers and teachers, it appeared she wasn't paying attention Noun 1. paying attention - paying particular notice (as to children or helpless people); "his attentiveness to her wishes"; "he spends without heed to the consequences" attentiveness, heed, regard . Her principal told her she wouldn't graduate with her class. ``It was very emotional,'' Copp said. ``I'd start crying.'' The family struggled, too. At first her parents thought she was having nightmares - until the parents of a friend with whom Copp stayed overnight called them. ``Aimee was in a catatonic (jargon) catatonic - A description of a system that gives no indication that it is still working. This might be because it has crashed without being able to give any error message or because it is busy but not designed to give any feedback. Compare buzz. state and there was a lot of blood (from) a loose tooth,'' Phyllis Copp said. ``When we got there, she didn't respond. It was frightening.'' Also frightening for Aimee was the loss of her athletic career. She loved soccer and tried to stay with it for a year. For much of her sophomore year, different doctors prescribed different medicines to combat her seizures, all to no avail. But by the summer of her junior year - after being told this was how she would have to live - she switched doctors again. This group of doctors wanted to try something different: Find the exact location of the seizure in the brain. That meant hospitalization hospitalization /hos·pi·tal·iza·tion/ (hos?pi-t'l-i-za´shun) 1. the placing of a patient in a hospital for treatment. 2. the term of confinement in a hospital. , going off medication and enduring at least three more seizures. She found herself with about 50 wires hooked to her head and to a camera that would record her every move. Seven doctors watched three seizures over three weeks before finding the location on the left side of her brain, where controls for speech, language and memory are located. They put Copp on a third type of medication. ``From that point on, I had a new life,'' Aimee said. She resumed her life. She attended class and even took night school to catch up. She finally got her driver's license Noun 1. driver's license - a license authorizing the bearer to drive a motor vehicle driver's licence, driving licence, driving license license, permit, licence - a legal document giving official permission to do something . She joined her school's tennis, track and basketball teams. She graduated with her class. It was basketball that she really grew to love and wanted to play in college, but since she hadn't played it long enough, she felt the junior college route would work. At Fullerton College Fullerton College, in Fullerton, California, is the oldest community college in continuous operation in California, having been established in 1913. Fullerton College’s roots can be traced back to a time when the city of Fullerton was primarily an agricultural community , she made the All-State team and helped the school finish 27-9 and reach the state quarterfinals last year. Her 334 rebounds established a school record and helped attract USC's attention. This season has been difficult for Copp. She has been slow to adjust to the Division I game, averaging two points and one rebound a game in 8.9 minutes. Not becoming eligible for USC until Dec. 29, the result of a transcript snafu at Fullerton, didn't help, either. Still, she was seizure-free for five years. Until . . . She returned to her apartment from the grocery store one weekend late last year and felt that same sense of dread. ``All I remember is my head jacking two times to the right,'' she said. ``I woke up in a dark room. I'm hyperventilating. My first thought was `I have to get out of here.' I tried to get up, fell and hit my head. I looked in the mirror (the sliding-glass closet door in her bedroom). My face was covered in blood. ``I tried to get up again and couldn't, so I laid there shaking. I crawled to the desk in my room. I crawled to the phone. It took five to 10 minutes. I picked up the phone and called Mom. My speech was slurred slur tr.v. slurred, slur·ring, slurs 1. To pronounce indistinctly. 2. To talk about disparagingly or insultingly. 3. To pass over lightly or carelessly; treat without due consideration. .'' She lost her license and her medication dosage increased from three to four times a day. She hasn't had another seizure since. ``It's a heartbreak every time it starts again,'' Phyllis said. ``She wants to appear strong and not be different than anyone else.'' For the most part, Copp has. ``She's very inspirational and she's very open about it,'' Gobrecht said. CAPTION(S): Photo PHOTO AIMEE COPP She set a record at Fullerton College with 334 rebounds, attracting the attention of USC recruiters. |
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