My Epilepsy Story

Hope in the Midst of Struggle

Hi my name is Kate Schroeder I am 25 years old and I am a christian believer. I have 2 older brothers, 2 beautiful sister in laws, 3 nieces and a nephew and of course mom & dad.  The things I love to do is travel to different places with my family.  We all Enjoy camping in the mountains, sitting by the campfire, trail riding, and swimming. I like to read christian books, and have been learning sign language. 

I have had epilepsy since I was 5. At first my parents didn't know what it was. I had my first EEG done and the journey began. I was diagnosed with complex partial seizures. Over the next 5 years I would try many different medications. During this time it made school hard for me. Between the medications and seizures it was hard for me to learn and make friends.  At the age of 10 my parents started looking for different options. Our choices were the VNS or brain surgery. While they both sounded risky, we wanted to move forward to the goal of being seizure free, so we chose the stimulator first. The VNS was a good tool to have as it helped me come out of a seizure quicker but it did not give us the results we were searching for. The next year my parents starting looking into brain surgery.  In 2010 I went through lots of testing to see if I was a candidate for surgery. After all the tests were done the doctors determined that I was a candidate but the odds of being seizure free was 70%. After much prayer and consideration we decided to move forward as we had faith that God would make up the difference. Looking back on it now , I see how God gave me strength to go through what I needed to do with a quiet and determined spirit. Recovery went well and hopes were high  but after a few short weeks I had my first seizure since surgery. The next year was challenging. Post surgery brought discouragement. I continued having 9-15 seizures a month. Even though surgery didn't stop the seizures I feel like it was apart of my plan towards healing.

In 2012 I changed doctors.He  started  me on Lyrica  and it made a big difference. It helped me focus more and my seizures improved. March 10,2013 nine months after I started Lyrica I became Seizure Free!!! This is also my grandma's birthday so I know this is no coincidence. God had chosen this day special day for me. From 2013- 2019 I was seizure free.