Ohio Teen Suffering Dozens Of Seizures A Day Finds Relief Through Experimental Surgery

CLEVELAND, OH (CBSNewYork) -- Imagine being a teenager and suffering dozens of epileptic seizures a day.

That was the difficult life of 18-year-old Collin May, who was having more than 50 seizures a day before undergoing experimental surgery.

As CBS2's Dr. Max Gomez reported, a laser burned away the part of his brain that was causing the seizures.

"At night I would have the seizures and wouldn't get a lot of sleep at all and then I'd wake up and be tired and that would give me more seizures and I would go to school and you know, getting a lecture in class and I'd have another seizure," he said.

Collin's seizures controlled his life and medicine wasn't working.

"There were time periods where he was pretty much a zombie. I had to come to the realization my son as I knew him, was literally gone. It was troubling. Kneeling at the bedside every night, just weeping and it was rough," Todd May said.

Collin and his family sought help at the Cleveland Clinic. Using sophisticated mapping tools doctors pinpointed the exact spot in Collin's brain that was causing the seizures.

Then using a kind of brain GPS, a tiny laser probe was inserted into that area.

"We produce a lesion that's caused by the heating of tissue around this laser. We're talking about a small lesion caused by this laser probe, maybe 1 cubic centimeter, very small but very well precise in place," Dr. Jorge Gonzalez-Martinez, Cleveland Clinic said.

The probe is then removed and the incision closed with a single stitch.

Collin hasn't had a seizure since his surgery, and he's taking advantage of his new freedom.

"I've been riding the motorcycle a lot. Looking forward to actually joining the Marine Corps now that I'm able to, hanging out with friends, going out and doing a lot of things I couldn't do before," he said.

This type of laser surgery is for what's called focal epilepsy, where the seizures originate in a small, localized brain area.

Recovery from the surgery was rest at home for about a week and then back to school and normal activities.