For 29 years, from the time she was 12, Rashetta Higgins had been wracked by epileptic seizures – as many as 10 a week – in her sleep, at school, at work.
The Sacramento resident and mother of two lost four jobs over 10 years. One seizure brought her down as she was climbing concrete stairs, leaving a bloody scene and a bad gash near her eye.
![Rashetta Higgins walking past a mural of a woman dreaming with bags in her hands](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-04/rashetta-higgins-walking-square.jpg?h=6660d6c8)
![Rashetta Higgins walking past a mural of a woman dreaming with bags in her hands](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-04/rashetta-higgins-walking.jpg?h=2d44e782)
“I fell a lot. I’ve had concussions. I’ve gone unconscious. It’s put a lot of wear and tear on my body.”
![Rashetta Higgins sits on a bench outside of the UCSF Medical Center at Parnassus Heights](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-04/Rashetta-Higgins-at-Parnassus-square.jpg?h=6660d6c8)
![Rashetta Higgins sits on a bench outside of the UCSF Medical Center at Parnassus Heights](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-04/Rashetta-Higgins-at-Parnassus.jpg?h=2d44e782)
In 2016, Higgins’ primary-care physician in Vallejo referred her to the UCSF Epilepsy Center at Parnassus Heights, where Higgins began her care.
![Rashetta Higgins meets with her neurologist](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-04/Rashetta-Higgins-with-her-doctor-square.jpg?h=6660d6c8)
![Rashetta Higgins meets with her neurologist](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-04/Rashetta-Higgins-with-her-doctor.jpg?h=2d44e782)
After three years of unsuccessfully using drugs to control Rashetta’s seizures, UCSF neurologist Vikram Rao recommended surgery to map her brain activity and pinpoint the region that was triggering her brainstorms.
![Rashetta Higgins smiles in her hospital bed as she holds the hand of her older son and neurosurgeon Eddie Chang](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-04/Rashetta-Higgins-implant-operation-square.jpg?h=6660d6c8)
![Rashetta Higgins smiles in her hospital bed as she holds the hand of her older son and neurosurgeon Eddie Chang](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-04/Rashetta-Higgins-implant-operation.jpg?h=2d44e782)
Higgins’ neurosurgeon Edward Chang performed an initial surgery at the UCSF Helen Diller Medical Center at Parnassus Heights to place over 150 electrodes on her brain’s surface.
![Squiggly lines show a seizure taking place over time on an EEG](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-04/seizure-eeg.jpg?h=c673cd1c)
The sensors tracked brain wave activity for one week. The squiggly EEG recordings of Higgins’ seizures were transformed into a cinematic “heat map” using software developed by neurologist Jon Kleen at UCSF.
![Map of brain activity during a seizure over time](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-04/rashetta-higgins-epilepsy-brain-map-over-time-V2.jpg?h=2d44e782)
The animation, projected onto a virtual model of Higgins’ brain, allowed doctors, for the first time, to watch a seizure spread through the brain’s surface and deeper hidden parts. With this information, the neurosurgeon was able to remove the seizure-producing area of her brain.
![Rashetta Higgins high fives her youngest son outside of his schoolbus](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-04/Rashetta-Higgins-high-fives-her-youngest-son-square.jpg?h=6660d6c8)
![Rashetta Higgins high fives her youngest son outside of the school bus](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-04/Rashetta-Higgins-high-fives-her-youngest-son.jpg?h=2d44e782)
The surgery has been a life-changing success for Higgins and her two sons, Joe and Elijah.
![Rashetta Higgins and her older son hold opposite arms of her youngest son as he balances on rollerskates](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-04/Rashetta-Higgins-Apartment-Complex-Sons-Roller-Skates.jpg?h=2d44e782)
Higgins hasn’t had a seizure in nearly three years. That’s enabled big changes for her, including regaining her driver’s license and starting a new job.
Free from seizures, she feels more mentally sharp and on top of things.
![Rashetta Higgins laughing on the couch with her younger son](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_square_card/public/2022-04/Rashetta-Higgins-couch-son-square.jpg?h=6660d6c8)
![Rashetta Higgins laughing on the couch with her younger son](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-04/Rashetta-Higgins-couch-son.jpg?h=2d44e782)
“When I wake up, I’m right on it every morning,” she said. “I waited for this day for a long, long time.”
![An aerial view of the Parnassus campus as it would look with the new hospital](/sites/default/files/styles/full_width_news_package_banner/public/2022-10/new-hospital-aerial-parnassus-mount-sutro.jpg?h=4362216e)
UCSF is transforming its Parnassus Heights campus so that patients like Rashetta can continue to benefit from the convergence of world-class research, education, and patient care.