White House adviser and his wife push for better treatment of epilepsy for daughter and others

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Axelrod remains mindful of daughter with epilepsy

WASHINGTON — White House presidential adviser David Axelrod says the demands of his job can sometimes be hard since he can’t spend quality time with his daughter, who suffers from epilepsy.

In a broadcast interview Sunday, Axelrod said he’s grateful that newly approved medication seems to be finally controlling the seizures of Lauren, 28, after many years of trial and error with other therapies. But he acknowledges it is still difficult to be away from Lauren, who lives at a home for the developmentally disabled in Chicago.

“It’s been hard to explain to her. She doesn’t understand why. She asks all the time, ‘Why does Barack Obama need so much help?’” Axelrod said.

“There was a time when we have given our right arm for just a — a week of good days. And now, she has them consistently. So, you know, that’s a big victory,” he said.

Axelrod spoke in an interview with “60 Minutes” along with Lauren and his wife, Susan, who is president of the Chicago-based advocacy group CURE, or Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy.

The couple described the initial shock they felt when their 7-month-old daughter suddenly became limp and blue in her crib. When Susan Axelrod picked up Lauren, she immediately went into a seizure. The medical treatments at the time were limited, and so the Axelrods were forced to try 23 different medications and an unsuccessful brain surgery for their daughter by the time she was 18.

Their turmoil prompted Susan Axelrod to help start CURE to promote medical research.