It's been almost a year since local artist Lee Munn underwent life-threatening surgery to treat his epilepsy.

"It was chancy," said Mr. Munn. "There was probably a five to 10 per cent chance that I wouldn't make it or that I would come out of it a lot more damaged."

Mr. Munn, who lives on the Mountain and has worked locally in advertising and design for over a decade, underwent treatment at the world-renowned epilepsy program at London Health Sciences Centre.

He received three treatments within a year and a half. "Every six or seven months, I would go in. During the first session, a test was performed with wires attached to my head. The second time, they had to put the wires literally on my brain to help determine the exact area of my brain that was damaged. The brain surgery, which removed the damaged portion of my brain, took place on my third visit."

Since the surgery, Mr. Munn hasn't experienced a seizure. "I used to have seizures quite regularly, probably about once a week. I couldn't drive a car, I bussed in to work every day."

Mr. Munn's not driving yet -- he's still waiting to be seizure-free for an entire year before he gets behind the wheel. "When it has been a year, I will have an EEG and MRI test to see exactly how everything is, to see how my speech is, how my basic skills are, and most importantly to determine that I don't have any brain damage remaining. If there were still a chance (of a seizure), I wouldn't get behind the wheel. It wouldn't be worth it."

Despite the risks involved, Mr. Munn decided to undergo the surgery last year and saw it as an opportunity to overcome an affliction that had been holding him back. "It was keeping me away from so much in life," he said.

His fiancee also played a role in his decision-making. "She's a nurse, so of course she knew a lot more about my condition. She paid a lot of attention to the seizures, and in a professional way," he said. "So many times, I'd go to the doctor and he'd ask what happens when I get a seizure. I'd say, 'I don't know, I'm not really there, I can't explain.' My fiancee was able to give the full medical format of what the problems were. She looked into it a little more and gave me the aspiration to go for the brain surgery."

Mr. Munn, who took art classes at the Dundas Valley School of Art before studying commercial art at Mohawk College and graphic design at George Brown College, found another benefit to the treatment process beyond the elimination of his seizures.

"I was sitting in the hospital doing paintings to kill time," he recalled. "You're in the hospital for a month without really much movement. I was sort of sitting there with wires connect to me, so for some reason that got me back into doing art," said Mr. Munn. "When I finally got out of the hospital, I realized that the reason I got into this industry in the first place was that I loved art."

Since undergoing treatment, Mr. Munn has established his own art studio, Arts & Ads, located on the Mountain at 39 Belvidere Ave. His artwork is on display at the studio, which is open to the public. "It's something that I've enjoyed doing," he said. "The studio's still in its early stages. I'm hoping to do some calendars featuring my paintings of the city of Hamilton. That's a piece I would really like to have done," he said.

Thanks to the surgery, Mr. Munn's personal calendar is no longer marred by weekly seizures. Instead, it's dotted with plans and events, including his upcoming wedding.