Story
VCH epilepsy patient and employee featured in the New York Times
Keri-Rose Tiessen was recently profiled in the internationally renowned newspaper after she worked through a life-threatening illness with the help of the Vancouver Coastal Health (VCH) Seizure Investigation Unit, where she now works as a registered nurse.
The team at the Seizure Investigation Unit (SIU) not only helped save Keri-Rose Tiessen’s life, but they also helped her become a VCH employee.
The now 39-year-old had been dealing with epilepsy for more than a decade when the illness suddenly took a near-fatal turn in 2017.
“I lost all consciousness, melted off my chair and fell face-first onto the ground,” Tiessen says. “I had a seizure, but my heart also stopped. That’s when I went to the SIU. Over the course of four years, the team caught it, diagnosed me, and gave me medication as well as a pacemaker. If it weren’t for them, who knows if I’d still be alive.”
Tiessen’s previously non-complex focal aware seizures, over time, had changed to sometimes cause abrupt loss of consciousness, called ictal asystole (IA). This is a serious type of seizure progression that can slow and/or stop the heart. IA affects less than one per cent of patients with seizure disorders.
She was in the middle of taking a nursing program at the BC Institute of Technology when her seizures began affecting her heart.
“I was in the middle of my program when things went awry, which made life so much more difficult,” she says. “At one point, I didn’t want to live. I thought, ‘Well, I just hope my heart doesn’t start again.’”
One of her health team members was Vancouver General Hospital (VGH) Neurologist and Epileptologist Dr. Chantelle Hrazdil. She helped diagnose and stabilize the seizures, and suggested Tiessen focus on neuroscience in her studies.
“Keri-Rose has a highly-valued ability to relate to the physical, emotional, and social challenges faced by those living with refractory seizures,” says Hrazdil. “This puts her in a unique position to provide optimal patient-centered care.”
“Things then fell into place,” Tiessen says. “I really enjoy working in the SIU. I feel empathetic toward other people with epilepsy. You’re told you can’t do this or that. Sometimes, you feel shackled in life.”
Tiessen didn’t want to take a leave from work to complete her studies because she didn’t know what would happen with her health. The SIU team worked with her nursing schedule to accommodate her treatment, and is developing strategies to support her ongoing education.
Tiessen now has a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and has been free of the heart-stopping seizures for more than three years.
She was invited to tell her story at a gathering of the Canadian Association for Neurosciences Nurses this past April.
“I knew I wanted to be a nurse, but I didn’t know this was going to be my journey,” she says. “I’ve realized this isn’t just a little thing in my life. I’ve found purpose. The patients and I are kindred spirits, so to speak.”
One in 26 people will develop epilepsy at some point in their lives and approximately 40,000 people in B.C. have epilepsy. At VCH, equity, diversity, and inclusion is an organizational pillar and essential to our goals of creating a great place to work and delivering exceptional care. We acknowledge and accommodate unique differences and ensure special measures are in place so that all prospective and current employees are given an opportunity to succeed.
If you would like to explore the career opportunities at VCH, visit vch.ca/careers.
Read Tiessen’s story in the New York Times here (login required).