I had my first seizure in March 2007, about a month before I turned 19 years old. I was attending a technical college at the time, pursuing a degree in aircraft maintenance. My plan was to eventually study aeronautical engineering in Florida and then try to get a job with NASA. Unfortunately, I was unable to complete the aircraft maintenance program. I needed two more classes – a math class and a welding class – to get my degree. My seizures started in the hippocampus – the part of your brain that controls and directs memory – and they wiped out much of the schooling I’d received.
Before I had the RNS System implanted, I was probably having close to 30 grand mal seizures per month. I couldn't even tell you how many medications I've tried.
In 2009, I had the RNS System implanted during the clinical trial period. The device gained control over the seizures on the left side of my brain, and after reviewing the data the doctors realized that the majority of my seizures were coming from the right side. So, they decided that I could have surgery to remove the right side of my hippocampus so that the number of seizures would be reduced.