My name is Olivia and I am 18 years old. I had my first seizure when I was eleven. We called them episodes before we knew it was a seizure. I would stare off and not respond to anyone. I was not aware this was happening to me. My parents started noticing and contacted my pediatrician. The doctor told us to keep an eye on it. I continued to have these episodes, but one night a had a rather long episode. I was taken to the ER where I got a CT scan. There was no evidence to know what was really going on, so from there I began seeing a neurologist. I was diagnosed with complex partial seizures after confirmed by an EEG. After being started on medication, we would soon realize that it wasn’t working. Before medication, I was having around 5 seizures a day. Medication only helped when. I was first put on it, then I would go back to having more. We then learned that I had medication resistant epilepsy. It was determined with lots of testing that I was a candidate for surgery. I had a SEEG before I was able to have surgery so that they could determine the exact location of my seizures. After a couple days with the SEEG, we were told that I could have the surgery. I had a right temporal lobectomy. I stayed seizure free for about 2 1/2 years. My seizures affected me mentally and physically. My processing became more difficult, and my mental state became saddened. I was frustrated and upset and this caused more depression and anxiety. Part of my depression including thoughts of harming myself and suicidal thoughts. Over the next couple years, I would try to kill myself multiple times. I was put into a residential program that helped my mental health significantly. I’m still in therapy and am able to cope and talk about my struggles. This is the part of epilepsy that no one talks about. I began having new seizures where I had an aura before the seizure. I would have one around 3 seizures a week. I got on medication that did help this time and now I only have seizures every 2-3 weeks. A cure for epilepsy would mean a lot for many people. I would no longer have to worry about having an aura and when the next seizure is going to be. My family wouldn’t have to worry about me. It would help my mental health as well.