Gianna Overcomes Rare Seizures with Expert Care

Three years ago, Lerita and Greg Carter found themselves in an emergency room, fearing the worst. Their daughter Gianna was just 5 months old when subtle, unusual movements began to raise concerns.

"I had seen something like it before when my first daughter was born," Lerita says. "When it started happening again, something in my gut told me it didn’t look right."

During their initial emergency room visit to a local hospital, Gianna did not show visible symptoms, and she and her family nearly left without answers. But just before discharge, Gianna's sudden movements began again. That moment changed everything. Gianna was immediately transferred by ambulance to Children's National, where specialists quickly diagnosed her with infantile spasms.

Gianna's small jerks and repetitive motions didn't look like the dramatic seizures many people imagine. Infantile spasms, a rare form of epilepsy that typically occurs during infancy, can be difficult for families to recognize.

But the condition is a neurological emergency. Abnormal electrical activity in the brain can interfere with critical periods of development, potentially affecting a child's learning, communication and milestones without timely treatment.

"It was devastating," Lerita says. "We didn't know what it would mean for her future. When I searched online, everything I found pointed to worst-case scenarios."

Gianna and her family found a path forward with her neurologist, Wei-Liang Chen, MD, and the rest of her care team at Children's National. She started a time-sensitive, powerful medication to treat her spasms. Within days, Gianna's seizures began to decrease. In less than a week, they stopped altogether. Her parents soon brought her home and continued administering her treatment.

Slowly but surely, she began to thrive.

"One week seizure-free became two weeks, then a month," Lerita says. "Now, we're celebrating three years seizure-free."

Today, Gianna is a confident, curious kid who loves building with Legos, taking things apart just to see how they work and playing doctor.

Lerita and Greg hope to raise awareness about Gianna's condition and show families facing a similar diagnosis that it does not define their child's future — especially with the right care and early intervention.

"We're just so grateful," Lerita says. "She's thriving. And we want other families to know that there is hope."