Scar that's left...

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Itr786

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Hi everyone,

My neurologist has recently mentioned the idea of having surgery due to not being able to control my partial seizures of temporal lobe.

I realised its a long road, including many test/scans etc.. before I would be considered a candidate for the surgery, even then, I'd think long and hard on whether I'd want to go ahead with the surgery, but the way I'm currently feeling, I would go ahead with it.

I've gone through, and also looked up the potential complications, but was wondering, what sort of scar is left on ones head from the surgery?...

Kind regards
Al
 
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The scar I have from my surgery is just a thin line on the right side of my head, maybe 5, 6 inches long and yes, I do have long hair but even if I had short hair it wouldn't be something that is obvious to anyone who happened to look at my head, even if they're intentionally looking for it, your hair should cover the scar.
 
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Hi,
Unfortunately due to be a baldy, it'll be a case of covering it with a cap until I feel I'm not being stared at by people.

I've seen pictures (Google) of people with scars that look almost like question marks on the side of their heads. Anyone know whey type of surgery they carry out for it to come out looking like that?

I hope you're right, and it becomes almost invisible over time. I'm very self conscious at the best of times!, wouldn't want to feel like I'm unable to go out without feeling that way..
 
The surgeries that leave that kind of scarring are for when doctors have a larger surgery to perform, an example, my Twin has had a backward question mark on her head for almost her whole life due to surgeries, the first surgery was in the early 80's, she has Hydrocephaly meaning too much fluid on the brain and has 6 shunts placed, 3 on the right side of her brain, and 3 on the left side to drain the fluid into her stomach, and has had the surgery 13 times to replace shunts when they become clogged or have broken down.
 
And a bit more info, I have a large scar on the right side of my head, for a visual it's about the size of 3 quarters in the shape of a triangle, since before birth that I've dealt with my whole life, it can be seen if my hair is down and the wind blows my hair slightly, even if my hair is in a ponytail my hair splits over it because it's lumpy and the whole thing can be seen.

So I understand what it's like being a "baldy" well, almost LOL
 
Well in order for them to take out my baseball size tumor, they needed to cut the image of an upside down horse shoe on the left side of my head. The scars on top are the worst, there are grooves and crevices that are quite visible if i did not have hair. With ones fingers, they are quite evident, when touched. But luckily i do have nice hair, that can fully cover it. Over all no one could tell I've had massive surgery, which is a good thing.

After surgery, i had 44 staples in my head and going to the supermarkets on Monday mornings was a challenge, since that is when the moms are there with their little toddlers. I got a lot of stares. I looked like frankenstein to those little kids. Especially since i had shaved all my hair off. The hair cutter before the surgery only cut half of my hair off, the whole left side. So i had to finish the job and cut the rest off at home. Hardest part was not being able to sleep on that side of my head for a couple of months. And the Steroids, decadron, is such an upper drug, that i could only sleep 2hrs at a time for the month i was tapering off of it. So at nights i'd go to bed at 10 and wake around 12 or 1am, that was no fun. In hindsight, I should've asked for sleeping pills.

I asked my doc if he thought surgery would help my epilepsy, he said no. Now if he would've said yes, i would have probably went for it. With todays technology, the surgeons really know what they are doing. I had no choice on who to pick for my surgeon, only thing i ask her is how many operations she has done like mine, she said over 100, so I was at ease with that knowledge. Plus, there are other surgeons there as well or well at least for mine there were other surgeons. I know since i got all the surgery reports. So it's was a team effort.

:piano: :pop:
 
Itr786 said:
I've seen pictures (Google) of people with scars that look almost like question marks on the side of their heads. Anyone know whey type of surgery they carry out for it to come out looking like that?
Click to expand...

that's standard for a temporal lobectomy on the side. they also do (which my surgeon did) what looks like a half-circle towards the front. sometimes comes down to where the focus is located but mostly just the surgeon's preference.
 
this will really show you how the scar is nothing to worry about... first pic four days after surg and then three weeks after. such a difference in a few weeks and now just after a year it's nothing but a thin white line, unnoticeable to anyone but me, and that's only if I look for it.

http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f41/lifes-changing-7-weeks-21012/index8.html

is a long journey thread and I think the pics are pages five or six.
 
I had left temporal lobe surgery. My scar starts from above my left eyebrow which goes down to my left ear. I had shoulder length hair & the surgeon shave the hairline so I was able to cover the scar with my hair.

This was my scar 2 weeks post surgery.

IMGP0917.jpg
 
HI, If you check my profile you will see pictures of the scar from my right temporal lobotomy. My surgery was done in the late 80s. The only reason you can see my scar now is due to not having as much hair as I did in the 80s :) My scar starts just below the scalp and makes a question mark to behind my right ear.
 
Hi, thanks everyone for their input, I'd day it's pit my mind as easy, but it really hasn't lol.

It's a right temporal lobe procedure I'd be having.

The process gas started nonetheless to find out if I'm a candidate,
I've got appointments for:

1)ambulatory EEG scan,
2)up-to-date MR brain protocol, including gadolinium enhancement?..
3)baseline neuropsychometry.

My Neurologist also mentioned EEG with video and aggressive drug withdrawal if the first eeg is inconclusive.

It's obvious medication isn't getting me where I need to be, so it would be a an option I think I would go ahead with, on basis I'm a candidate.

One question for those that have had the surgery, IF I would have this surgery, and it's 'successful', could I potentially have the same type of epilepsy (partial of right temporal lobe) come back to bite be in the ass further down the line?

I'm always cautions about seizures, at ALL time, whatever I'm doing. I'm just hoping I can get to a situation I can do something, like play a football game, or not worrying about making sure I'm so strict about my regular sleeping patterns, without having a worry about seizures.

Kind regards,
Al
 
Itr786 said:
It's obvious medication isn't getting me where I need to be, so it would be a an option I think I would go ahead with, on basis I'm a candidate.

One question for those that have had the surgery, IF I would have this surgery, and it's 'successful', could I potentially have the same type of epilepsy (partial of right temporal lobe) come back to bite be in the ass further down the line?
Click to expand...

There is no way of knowing 100% whether the surgery is going to be successful or not. Usually they wait for 2 years to decide whether the the surgery is actually successful. For some, surgery works for years and then seizures return. For others, seizures never return. For me, I was only seizure free for 14 months after surgery. And they were much worse than before surgery.
I wasn't a candidate for a 2nd surgery because my seizures stem from deep in my hippocampus.
 
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