Dealing with Epilepsy is Daily Battle For Fridley Girl

At age 17, Kayla Borman has big aspirations: She wants to become a doctor who finds a cure for epilepsy. 
The Fridley girl's dreams are born of her own medical battles: Since 2001, she has endured constant and uncontrolled epileptic seizures and has been hospitalized more than two dozen times.  
Given the toll that the seizures and the medications have taken on Kayla's physical health and mental faculties, it's unlikely she will ever become a doctor, said her mother, Linda Borman.
Currently, Kayla takes about a dozen different drugs  three times a day to try and minimize her epilepsy. About half of the medications are aimed at minimizing the frequency and severity of Kayla's seizures; the rest are prescribed to help her mental health, Linda said.  
For the Borman family, helping Kayla through each day is an ongoing challenge because her daughter needs to be continually monitored, Linda explained.  
Still, that doesn't stop Kayla from dreaming that one day we will find a cure for epilepsy. Today (Saturday), Kayla will hold her sixth annual lemonade fundraiser to help support the Epilepsy Foundation of Minnesota. The event will be held from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Schaaf Floral shop, 6554 University Ave.  
The lemonade fundraiser will likely  draw upwards of 300 people, Linda Borman said. 
During the past five years, Kayla and her supporters have raised more than $25,000 for the Epilepsy Foundation, with a big chunk of that money coming  from the annual lemonade event, Linda said. 
That's been a big achievement.
Meanwhile, Kayla also has made some important personal progress: She's gone as long as 28 days without a seizure and her epileptic seizures are more intermittent now, Linda said, adding, "We're thankful for that."  

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