Johnny

As an athlete, Johnny Severe has earned his share of bumps and bruises. But the 250-pound lineman from Modesto will never forget the hit he took in a high school football game in September.

Two players crashed into him at the same time – one from the front, one from behind. He was soon out of the game, temporarily unable to remember his name or speak clearly. An ambulance transported him to a local hospital, where it was determined he suffered a concussion.

That’s when the bad headaches started. “I had constant, excruciating pain,” said Johnny, 16. “I couldn’t play football anymore.”

The Beyer High School head coach was none other than Johnny’s dad, Doug. He knew there was something very wrong when his son started suffering occasional “blackouts,” collapsing and becoming unresponsive. Doug and his wife Susie sought help to find out the cause.

“It was very scary when Johnny would just ‘black out’ – we had to call 9-1-1 several times,” recalled Susie, who, like her husband, teaches at Beyer.

Doctors examined many possibilities, including seizure disorders and the possibility of psychological causes. But nothing seemed to alleviate Johnny’s pain or symptoms until he was referred to a subspecialist at Children’s Hospital Central California.

A number of Children’s Hospital’s doctors see patients regularly at the Modesto Pediatric Subspecialty Center. The center is run by Children’s physician partners, Specialty Medical Group. In February, Johnny had his first appointment there with Children’s neurologist Dr. Steven Ehrreich.

Dr. Ehrreich treats and manages complicated pediatric neurological problems, from intractable epilepsies to spasticity and, of course, headaches. After meeting with the family and reviewing Johnny’s case, Dr. Ehrreich felt that neither psychological issues nor seizures were causing his condition.

“Johnny’s stressors, personality, how he dealt with the pain, and how well he functioned despite the pain, all pointed to a real, non-psychological pain syndrome that seemed more migraine-related,” said Dr. Ehrreich. “I think when the pain became intolerable, his body shut down as a way to cope.”

Because of his illness, Johnny had trouble sleeping, his grades were suffering, and his parents were considering taking him out of school for safety reasons. Dr. Ehrreich tried a different therapy to help him.

He admitted Johnny to Children’s Hospital to undergo an intravenous treatment every eight hours of Dihydroergotamine (DHE), “an old-school drug” for migraines. He received the first infusion in the afternoon. By early morning, something wonderful happened.

“I had just gotten out of the shower and looked in the mirror,” said Johnny. “It was the first time I didn’t have double vision in months – and my headache was gone! Within a matter of hours, my pain level had gone from nine to zero.”

“We think God put Dr. Ehrreich in our pathway to heal our son,” said Susie, with tears in her eyes.

Dr. Ehrreich said Johnny’s rapid response surprised even him. Thankfully, his painful headaches and related symptoms have not returned and he is playing football again.

“I know I can make it through anything now,” said Johnny. “Some of my friends thought I was faking all this – that was the hardest part. Dr. Ehrreich really listened to me and got it right.”