I have a few questions....

[whiskeyg1rl]

I am not to this forum and i have a few questions and im hoping someone or even a few people could help me out. Heres my story, I have a 17 year old brother that has had epilesy since 6 months old, starting at 6 months old he was having a dozen seizures a day (grandmal) we have went through HELL and back to get where we are right now i mean medication overdoses emergency rooms once a week and extreme medical espenses before we were able to get medicaid, so now were lucky if he has a seizure once a month, we have come a long way. So on to my question recently we switched neoligists and she brought up the option of doing surgery, now the thought never crossed our mind before because of course surgery on the brain is a VERY scary thing and we have been coping with it for so long it has just come a normal thing for us. So here are my questions, has anyone on here or do any of you know anyone that has had the surgery? Was it succsessful or unsuccessful?

[epileric]

I've never had surgery but I've been offered it 3 times. Each time they had no clue what was causing the seizures but were either going to separate the Right & Left lobes or just cut off a part & pray for the best.

Make sure you ask what they're doing, how it relates to what's causing the seizures etc. A list of questions when you go in would be a good idea. If the neurologist avoids the questions I'd be very cautious.

[epileric]

I'd like to welcome you here at CWE. There are more people who've had operations that can give you more information here.

Meanwhile, Make yourself at home & check out what we've got.

[whiskeyg1rl]

we just were in the epilepsy monitoring unit we got out yesterday they found tha the seizures come from the right side of the brain which is what they want they can operate on that side. I just want to know the affects of the surgery the pros and cons. We know its not 100% affective but i just want to get a insight on it

[Meetz1064]

and welcome to CWE, whiskey. I'm sure you're going to like it here. I do have to comnmend you for everything that you're doing for your brother.

There ARE a number of people here who have had brain surgery---Elaine H, flinnigan, Cint, are a few that I can think of off the top of my head. I'm sure that they will be along shortly to say hello. If they're not, then why don't you PM them and ask them about it? I'm sure they will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

I know that there are others here in the forum that have had the surgery, but I can't remember right off the top of my head.........

Feel free to check out all the nooks and crannies here. We've got plenty of them, and the Library and the Kitchen are full of information---things like nutrition (it DOES make a difference), neurofeedback and all sorts of other things. The Padded Room is great for venting on the days that you need to....and trust me, we've all been there on occasion.

So kick up your feet, relax, and make plenty of new friends. Mr B, our host, has built us an AWESOME home here. We'll be here whenever you need us.

Take care,

Meetz


PS. If your brother hasn't figured out what his triggers are yet, perhaps keeping an E journal would be a really good idea........

[Cint]

HI Whiskey and Welcome,

I had a Left Temporal Lobectomy and was seizure free for only 14 months. After that, the seizures were much worse than before surgery. I could not have another surgery because my damaged area is too deep in the brain and I would end up like an Alzheimer patient if they were to go in and take out more. And after surgery, I went into a deep, deep depression that took years and many medications for me to overcome. And it effected my short term memory, speech (trouble finding words,aphasia) and still have mood swings. I would say that if your brother has already been through Hell and is down to one seizure a month, why put him through more hell with brain surgery?

Good luck in deciding.

[RobinN]

Curious since he started having seizures as a young child. Was a deficiency in Vitamin B6 ever considered as a possible cause? This is a rare cause of seizures in young children.

We have a member that was helped with supplementing this vitamin. Here is his story:
Vitamin B6 & Seizures

[whiskeyg1rl]

You know that was never brought up, and it may have something to do with it. I will have to ask his doctor when we go back next month. Thanks alot