Hello All,
I'm new and I did post in the Foyer. Then I read the Kitchen is most active. Since my friend is running out of time to decide on surgery, I'm going to ask this here too. I read somewhere that sometimes once the surgeon has the brain exposed that he has to use his skill and knowledge to identify the brain tissue that causes the seizures. Based on all the tests, he may know the seizures come from the temporal lobe. I then wonder, which part of the temporal lobe? I think those lobes are big. I think if the entire temporal lobe is removed there will be some definite unwanted side effects.
So is it true that tissue that causes seizures looks different to the naked eye? If so, this is news to me.
I know brain surgery is always a trade off. Or am I wrong? I don't think my friend realized this until yesterday. She thought they could stop her seizures without her losing any functions. That's not true, is it?
I'm sure the surgeon wants to know what tissue he's removing based on tests. But how common is it that he has to use his judgement?
I'll have more questions in a few days. Btw, my friend is 61. She takes Tegretol 200 mg 4 times a day. She has taken it about 30 years. We no longer know if it helps or if she's just physically dependent on it.
I have another question. My friend got a new neurologist 6 months ago. This Doc is into trying to help people with long term intractable epilepsy, especially women. The 1st test was a MRI and they saw something called a Gliosis. I tried to research that word and I didn't find information linking it directly to epilepsy. I even read most people over 60 probably have at least 1 gliosis. Nevertheless, it was a gliosis that started my friend on this road to possible brain surgery.
In the past she was always told she wasn't a surgical candidate because either the seizures originated in multi points of the brain and/or they couldn't pin down where the seizures started. Does anyone know if a gliosis is epilepsy related?
I'm new and I did post in the Foyer. Then I read the Kitchen is most active. Since my friend is running out of time to decide on surgery, I'm going to ask this here too. I read somewhere that sometimes once the surgeon has the brain exposed that he has to use his skill and knowledge to identify the brain tissue that causes the seizures. Based on all the tests, he may know the seizures come from the temporal lobe. I then wonder, which part of the temporal lobe? I think those lobes are big. I think if the entire temporal lobe is removed there will be some definite unwanted side effects.
So is it true that tissue that causes seizures looks different to the naked eye? If so, this is news to me.
I know brain surgery is always a trade off. Or am I wrong? I don't think my friend realized this until yesterday. She thought they could stop her seizures without her losing any functions. That's not true, is it?
I'm sure the surgeon wants to know what tissue he's removing based on tests. But how common is it that he has to use his judgement?
I'll have more questions in a few days. Btw, my friend is 61. She takes Tegretol 200 mg 4 times a day. She has taken it about 30 years. We no longer know if it helps or if she's just physically dependent on it.
I have another question. My friend got a new neurologist 6 months ago. This Doc is into trying to help people with long term intractable epilepsy, especially women. The 1st test was a MRI and they saw something called a Gliosis. I tried to research that word and I didn't find information linking it directly to epilepsy. I even read most people over 60 probably have at least 1 gliosis. Nevertheless, it was a gliosis that started my friend on this road to possible brain surgery.
In the past she was always told she wasn't a surgical candidate because either the seizures originated in multi points of the brain and/or they couldn't pin down where the seizures started. Does anyone know if a gliosis is epilepsy related?
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