English controversial columnist Katie Hopkins: her struggles with epilepsy, her open brain operation and cure of her epilepsy post-surgery!

Updated On March 18, 2024 | Published By: shahid | In Career , Health , Lifestyle

English columnist Katie Hopkins has been known to be a controversial figure in the mass media.
Be it her newspaper columns or her appearances on TV or her social media postings.
She has invariably courted controversies and has been criticized for her racist and unthinking bold statements.

She has been disliked by her readers and viewers. But this much-hated and disputed writer is a patient with epilepsy in real life. She has battled this disorder for the past 20 years.

She had told Daily Mail:

“I have lived with epilepsy for 20 years, dislocating my shoulder more than 40 times as a result of such seizures.”

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Katie Hopkins’ 1st seizure

Katie Hopkins was studying at the University of Exeter. Her studies were being sponsored by the British Army’s Intelligence Corps.

In exchange, she had to undergo military training with them and then work for them over the weekends for 35 years after her University course is completed. Katie thought that it would be fun to work in the forest with a gun over the weekend and agreed.

Source: Daily Mail (Katie with her mother Anona at Sandhurst)

She did her military training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst. But during the final ceremony, she suffered an epileptic seizure and hence was not taken up for the weekend work. This was the first attack of seizure that had gripped her.

Her 20-year-long battle with epilepsy

Katie Hopkins had multiple seizures after this first episode and it would be severe enough to require hospitalization and emergency care.

These attacks would occur anywhere; at home, during travel, or even during her TV shoots. She would many times need intravenous injections to abort her seizures, and securing an intravenous line in her would sometimes be difficult. She found Dame Sally very helpful on this front for her.

Talking about it, Katie Hopkins told Daily Mail:

“I have spent my life hiding my fits, always seeing them as a weakness, something that detracts from my idea that I am invincible.”

Source: ITV (Katie Holmes post-epilepsy fall and injury due to it)

Katie had revealed that most of her seizures were at night in her sleep and lasted for a brief moment. These used to be 2-3 episodes per night.

However, occasionally the seizures would be violent and traumatic. She once had a seizure on the road and she fell down hurting her lips and face and leading to bleeding.

Katie has also disclosed that her time on the Celebrity Big Brother show was relatively better than her time at home as regards her seizures since she was stress-free on the show and had to not worry about kids’ school or parents’ illnesses. Katie’s psychologist also informed her that getting calmer would help her control her fits.

Katie’s epilepsy was due to some malformation of the brain. Luckily none of her kids suffer from fits. Katie has been on 2 anti-epileptic medicines but her fits have lessened but remain uncontrolled.

Talking about her work and behavior, Katie said:

“Perhaps understanding the things I go through on a weekly basis will help people understand why I am so tough on others.”

Katie did not let epilepsy get over her and would continue with her work at home and at her career front. She had said:

“To others who feel they are cursed by their own condition, you are not alone. We all have something. We all have challenges to overcome.”

Katie Hopkins’ successful brain surgery

Katie Hopkins was advised to undergo surgery for her seizures with the possible risk of having some neurological dysfunction.

She opted to go ahead with the open brain surgery and found that the 12-hour long procedure had helped her cure her epilepsy without any neurological problems.

She tweeted post-surgery:

“I am out and about. Flying solo. And I am no longer an epileptic. Come on then life. Let’s do this thing.”

I am out and about. Flying solo. And I am no longer an epileptic. Come on then life. Let's do this thing. pic.twitter.com/dj8yA767zk
— Katie Hopkins (@KTHopkins) March 24, 2016

She had undergone a right parietal resection for her focal cortical dysplasia in March 2016 and has been seizure-free ever since.

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What is epilepsy?

It is a neurological condition of recurrent unprovoked and unpredictable seizures which usually have a motor component. It is due to abnormal electrical discharges from the nerve cells of the brain.

The causes are multiple and the symptoms and signs may vary depending upon which part of the brain is affected. Electroencephalogram (EEG) picks up the abnormal discharges of the brain and can diagnose epilepsy.

Special tests such as MRI, CT scan, and certain blood tests may be required for a complete diagnosis. Medicines to control these seizures are usually prescribed and may control seizures.

Break-through convulsions are known. Some epilepsies may benefit from surgery such as in the case of Katie Hopkins.

Source: Brain Train UK (Brain during the seizure activity)

Expert medical opinion is needed for such cases and preventive measures to avert fits would be beneficial. Keeping a card detailing the medical problem and treatment taken would help the epileptic get prompt medical care in case they get a convulsion in strange surroundings.

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