The whole arc

1998 to 2027 — the short version

Every chapter of this story, end to end. Expand any milestone for a quick summary, or follow the link through to the full chapter.

1. 1998 · Age 8 Diagnosed with cerebral hemiatrophy

   After weakness down the right side of my body and a round of MRIs and CT scans, doctors ruled out a brain tumor and diagnosed cerebral hemiatrophy — one half of my brain measurably smaller than the other. I was eight years old. That asymmetry is the reason a seizure focus had somewhere to grow in the first place.

   Read the full chapter →
2. Community college Breakthrough seizures & UCLA telemetry

   Years of unrecognized focal aware seizures gave way to generalized tonic-clonic seizures in community college. After breakthroughs continued with a hometown neurologist, I went to UCLA Medical Center for telemetry — mapping exactly where the seizures started.

   Read the full chapter →
3. 2017 Left anterior temporal lobectomy

   Surgeons removed part of my left temporal lobe — the focus UCLA's telemetry had mapped. Major brain surgery, real risk to speech and memory, chosen anyway because the seizures were already stealing my life. A breakthrough seizure a few months later proved it wasn't enough on its own.

   Read the full chapter →
4. 2019 & 2022 VNS, then DBS device implants

   A vagus nerve stimulator in 2019 helped some, but breakthroughs continued. In 2022 I chose deep brain stimulation — two leads placed deep in the brain, on purpose, with real surgical risk. It took nearly four years of programming after that to find a setting that actually held.

   Read the full chapter →
5. 2026 The golden setting & 154 lb of recovery

   On March 18, 2026, a specific DBS setting — low pulse stimulation, running continuously — finally held. My depression evaporated. Alongside that breakthrough came a 154-pound weight-loss transformation and a mindset shift that's still ongoing.

   See the recovery →
6. March 7, 2027 Running the LA Marathon for CURE Epilepsy

   26.2 miles, in training right now — raising money for CURE Epilepsy, the organization funding research toward an actual cure. The chains don't get the last word.

   Track the training →