When I was young, I started to have weakness down the right side of my body. My parents were very concerned so we went to the doctor. After MRIs, CT scans, and so on I was in the operating room to see if I had a tumor in my brain, which I didn’t, thank God.
After all those tests, they decided that I had cerebral hemiatrophy. A few years later, this is where the fun begins. I had a massive seizure, and I was in the hospital for a few days to recover. Throughout my life until I graduated high school I was having focal aware or simple partial seizures. It didn’t bother me at all because I did not know that I was having seizures.
When I was in community college I started to have generalized tonic-clonic seizures. After seeing my neurologist in my hometown, I was still having breakthrough seizures.
After much contemplation, I decided to go down to UCLA Medical Center. I was instantly into telemetry so the doctors can find the focal point of my seizures. After I was in consultation with a surgeon to take a part of my brain out. In 2017 I had left anterior temporal lobectomy or in short terms a resection. A few months later, I had a breakthrough seizure back to the drawing board!
In 2019 I had a vagus nerve stimulator put in. It helped a little bit, but I was still having breakthrough seizures. Now that I have had a resection and a VNS the big guns are out to play.
The DBS or deep brain stimulation was in the soon-to-be in my horizon. I was in a consultation with my surgeon to have two deep leads in my brain. In 2022 I went into surgery for my DBS.
The doctors and the people who work at MedTronic’s were in the thick of it for close to four years trying to find a golden setting. Until a few months ago, they decided to do a slow pulse throughout the day, 24/7.
Now, I am running the LA marathon!! I am still having breakthrough seizures about once a month or so but the sting isn’t there anymore. The chains of epilepsy that had bound me for so long were broken. I no longer fear having a seizure. It’s just the way my life is. I am so thankful that I have an awesome family that has supported me throughout this long process.
