My name is Chelsea. I’m 23 years old & a full time worker at a nursing home. I was born with epilepsy & diagnosed by the age of 4. Ive been going to Stanford hospital since I was a child. I’ve had the VNS surgery when I was 11 years old in the year 2001. That surgery was unsuccessful so my neurologist & I decided to further peruse with brain surgery. I had my first brain surgery when I was 12 years old in the year 2002. In the first brain surgery my doctor removed the piece of brain where the seizures where coming from but left a small piece in, only because it was too risky to take all of that piece of brain out. That first brain surgery decreased my seizures but did not eliminate them. As I got older my seizures slowly increased & have gotten a lot worse. Because my seizures have gotten worse my neurologist & I again decided to have a second brain surgery. I was 22 years old when I had my second brain surgery in the year 2012. During the second brain surgery my doctor did not remove a piece of the brain because it was too much stress for myself & my brain. I am now 23 years old & on March 6, 2014 I am going to have my third brain surgery at Stanford hospital. This surgery is to remove all of the piece of brain that is causing the seizures. I pray that this will lead to a seizure free life. Even through all the good & bad epilepsy has brought to my life I continue to follow my dreams & try to maintain living a normal life. The struggle is real but I am undefeated.