Martha Brody opted to weather two brain procedures this year in an effort to end the grand mal seizures that have punctuated her life since freshman year in high school.

First, in March, 17 electrodes were placed into small holes drilled into her head to give specialists in the Epilepsy Monitoring Unit at John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital a better sense of what was causing the seizures, including four that struck within the previous year.