This is a story about strength and about finding who I really am, all while overcoming the stigma that comes with being a hispanic women living with epilepsy. My name is Dulce and I was diagnosed with epilepsy at the age of 16. From that day forward my life completely changed. I was a sophomore in high school with plans and goals already set in mind for my future, but finding out that I had epilepsy felt like the end of my world. Everything that I already had planned for my future completely fell through. I felt like it was the end of my life because I had no idea what epilepsy was or how I was going to navigate my life now. I battled epilepsy and I also battled depression. Little did I know that epilepsy would shape me into the person that I am today. I am now a mom, a wife, also an epilepsy Advocate for the Epilepsy Foundation of America, along side the Epilepsy Foundation of Delaware and am just about to enroll back in college to finish my Bachelors Degree in Elementary Education. I am also working on a very special thing that I am very excited to be doing, but of course getting here was not easy. I was diagnosed with Nocturnal Generalized Tonic Clonic Seizures and later, my senior year of high school, I was also diagnosed with Focal Aware Seizures. If you know anything about Generalized Tonic Clonic Seizures, you know that they are one of the scariest things to witness someone having. Growing up in a hispanic household means growing up with a lot of superstitions and it was believed that seizures were simply something that comes from bad spirits, or as some people call them “Demonic Possessions”, meaning that it was happening because the evil was present. So when the doctors diagnosed me with epilepsy, some my family members didn’t believe that I had a real medical condition. They simply thought that it was all in my head and something that I could control, because to them it was just something that I had that would eventually go away on it’s own. It was already very challenging to grow up in a hispanic household, now add having an illness that most of the time was invisible and that not many people knew about, especially in the hispanic community. It was a big change for not only me, but my family as well. Now don’t get me wrong, both of my parents were very supportive when it came to buying my medications and taking me to my appointments, but they just couldn’t comprehend that I now lived with this illness that basically changed my entire life from one day to another. I was trying to navigate this illness and get to know the new me, while also navigating my high school career and everything that came with being a teenager. I couldn’t just continue my life like nothing ever happened. My family, at the time, just couldn’t seem to understand that it wasn’t just something I could shake off and continue living my life like normal, because while I looked like a normal 16 year old on the outside, on the inside I was not. I couldn’t be that teenager that was finally going to be getting their license and gaining some independence. I wasn’t that teenager that could go out and have fun with their friends whenever I wanted to. I wasn’t that teenager that could stay up late because I could risk having a seizure. Instead, I was that teenager who had to take medicine every day to be able to sleep through the night without having seizures. I was that girl who missed a lot of school days and school events because of doctors appointments or because of having to recover from a bad seizure. I was that girl who everybody assumed couldn’t play video games because of the flashing lights. I was that girl who couldn’t focus in class because of the side effects of my seizure medication. I was that girl who went from having really good grades and outstanding attendance to that girl who’s grades went down, not only because I missed a lot of days of school, but also because my body was still getting used to my seizure medication and I was always sleepy and unable to concentrate in class. I was that girl who couldn’t participate in after school extra curricular activities because I had to get home and rest so that I could have energy the next day. I felt alone and misunderstood. My family just didn’t understand that my illness wasn’t something that I could control with my brain or turn it off whenever I wanted to; it wasn’t something that came from bad spirits. It got to a point where I was severely depressed. I occasionally would hear my parents talk about me. I felt like such a burden because I wasn’t able to have those privileges that other teens my age had. I got to a point where I even tried to take away my life, but was unsuccessful. It was then when my family really started to take my therapy sessions seriously.  It took months of therapy to finally allow my family to understand that what I was going through was something real and was not something that I could control. It took them months to understand that all I needed was their support to be able to learn how to navigate this new life living with epilepsy. I graduated high school in 2017 and thankfully I finally felt supported. I was very proud of myself because, although I did not graduate how I wanted to, I still did it. I completed high school even with the challenges I was facing. I took two years off college to finish my cosmetology hours at a trade school and to also find the right medications that worked for me, because just as I was finishing high school and had reached 2 years being seizure free, I started getting new symptoms and I ended up being diagnosed with Focal aware Seizures, which is a whole other story. I started working and facing real life challenges as now a young adult. I always knew I wanted to be a teacher or be an education major, but I didn’t know whether or not it would be possible. I started looking for other jobs, came across a preschool center that was hiring and I immediately applied. I didn’t have any prior work experience because I had only previously worked at a hair salon, but I applied anyway with no hope. Later that day I received a call for an interview. Fast forward to days later, I got the job and I took that as a sign that I shouldn’t give up on my dream just because I had epilepsy. Months after working there I decided to enroll in college to pursue my Bachelors in Elementary Education and I was set to graduate in 2023, but a lot of things happened between those years that led me to having to take a break from college in 2022. One of the biggest journeys of my life was just beginning and that was creating a family along side my now husband. Everybody’s pregnancy journey with epilepsy is different, but mine just happened to be quite emotionally and physically challenging because, while my seizures were pretty well controlled, sometimes God has other plans. I have three angel babies in heaven, one of which I gave birth to at just 17 weeks. I had a PPROM and had to give birth to him early. My little boy was just too precious for this world. Two years later, I gave birth to my beautiful Rainbow Baby! She is the most precious, most healthiest little girl that God has given me and even though my pregnancy was challenging, I would do it all over again. I am more than grateful to have her in my life and

she is my biggest motivation. Motherhood as a woman living with epilepsy has also had it’s challenges, but luckily I have a village that is always willing to help me when needed. It’s been two years of motherhood and as I continue this journey I think it’s also time for me to finish what I was supposed to finish in 2023. Life with epilepsy will never be easy, no matter what stage of life you are in, but as long as you have your village, as long as you believe in yourself, as long as you keep taking care of yourself, and as long as you keep taking your medications, you are capable of so many things. If you are reading this and you are newly diagnosed with epilepsy or already live with epilepsy, know that it gets better. Don’t give up - don’t let epilepsy define you or stop you from achieving your dreams and becoming the person you want to be because, although it might be challenging or might seem impossible, just know that it is possible. Like I always say, "I have epilepsy, epilepsy does not have me."