Can't wash my hair.

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Cordero

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Just got done having surgery. You know it's bad enough when you lose hair and now I can't wash my head for another week and a half. Ick.
 
When did you have your surgery Cordero?
When I had my surgery I was in hospital for 5 days, I could have a shower but couldn't wet my hair. I washed my hair for the 1st time the day after I got out of hospital (6 days after my surgery) & it was good to finally be able to wash it. When I had my surgery the specialists all told me to use baby shampoo on my hair after the surgery while the scar was healing as it's more softer on your hair than regular shampoo & doesn't sting.
 
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Yeah, when I had my surgery, I couldn't wash my hair for a week either. Not as bad as being in the hospital for 3 weeks and not being able to take a full bath for two weeks. Did get sponge bathes though.
 
CQ,
Sorry for not answering your question sooner. I didn't realize I had posts on this thread. I had surgery June 18, 2012. People had told me about a shampoo that dries the oils out of your hair. I wasn't able to get some ,though, because I can't drive and I have to rely on everyone to take me to the store.. It really sucks


Nakamova,
I did end up getting a silly hat and had never felt so dorky before.

AngelwithDentedHalo,
They said that it was okay to take a bath as long as my head didn't get wet. But it really stunk because our bathtub is broken so I couldn't take one unless I was at family members' houses. I ended up catching a bladder infection. I hate surgery.
 
That may have contributed to my urinary tract infection second time in hospital but I suspect it was more the cathetor they put in
 
Cordero said:
CQ,
Sorry for not answering your question sooner. I didn't realize I had posts on this thread. I had surgery June 18, 2012. People had told me about a shampoo that dries the oils out of your hair. I wasn't able to get some ,though, because I can't drive and I have to rely on everyone to take me to the store.. It really sucks
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No worries Cordero,
I hope your recovery has been going well.
 
are you guys talking about the surgery to control your seizures? Did you have any side effects afterwards? like memory problems?

good luck to all of you :)
 
katzy said:
are you guys talking about the surgery to control your seizures? Did you have any side effects afterwards? like memory problems?

good luck to all of you :)
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Hi Katzy,

There are a couple of members on here who have had brain surgery to help control their seizures but each person is different. I had brain surgery (scarring removed from my left front temporal lobe) in March last year & for me it has been a success so far. But there are other members on here who it hasn't been so successful for.

Like most people with epilepsy I have had issues with my memory, there have been some times where my memory was worse which I put down to the meds I was on at the time combined with the seizures. My memory isn't so bad at the moment, although I still have times where i forget things.
 
CQ:) said:
Hi Katzy,

There are a couple of members on here who have had brain surgery to help control their seizures but each person is different. I had brain surgery (scarring removed from my left front temporal lobe) in March last year & for me it has been a success so far. But there are other members on here who it hasn't been so successful for.

Like most people with epilepsy I have had issues with my memory, there have been some times where my memory was worse which I put down to the meds I was on at the time combined with the seizures. My memory isn't so bad at the moment, although I still have times where i forget things.
Click to expand...

That's wonderful that yours has been a success :)

Me too suffer from memory loss, but I think that was from the lamotrigine I was taking
 
katzy said:
are you guys talking about the surgery to control your seizures? Did you have any side effects afterwards? like memory problems?

good luck to all of you :)
Click to expand...

The surgeon and your neurosurgeon should state to you that there have been issues with short term memory after this type of surgery takes place because of what is cut into.

I am a prime example of it. What I can tell you interestingly enough, I had a Temporal Resection on 1995 and was given fair warning about short term memory issues from both doctors because of what would be done with the hippocampus. I can recall what was stated is due to statistics everyone differs in length of time for short-term memory difficulty because no person has the same brain-time recovery.

I can agree to that for sure. What I am noticing is my short term memory is improving big time and we're not sure what is doing it. We don't know if it's from the drop in medication, the DBS for Epilepsy in 2011, the length of time or a combination of all three. I have researchers here in Omaha, NE jumping up and down with excitement because of this positive activity.

Heck, I am really getting into it because of what my short term memory is doing; it's improving after all this time! :woot: We don't have all the answers yet but I am doing my best to help the researchers find answers. :ponder:
 
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Oh wow .. I didn't even know there was something called DBS. Glad to hear everything's coming together for you. So you're seizure free now?

I was worried about having seizures while driving, but hearing what some of you have gone through, I don't think I should be complaining.
 
Cordero said:
Just got done having surgery. You know it's bad enough when you lose hair and now I can't wash my head for another week and a half. Ick.
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I went through this when I had the DBS for Epilepsy done. Grant it they only shaved the back lower corner where my neck is but it still was enough for me not to wash my hair. Actually, as it was worded to me, the neurosurgeon chose that I not wash my hair as it would allow the area to begin healing easier which made total sense to me. The other thing the neurosurgeon mentioned was he did not want me walking or standing up for fear he did not want me to fall and get hurt which made very common sense. I didn't mind staying in bed during the six day recovery. I was glad to go home after being in the hospital for a week though.

I was frustrated enough as I was on limitation. Oh and trust me, I still have a tender spot; it's nowhere near as bad but there are certain things I will do and will not do even now.

There is something at the local Walgreens or CVS that can be found to comb through your hair to wash it. I recall it comes in a clear bottle and has a purple logo on it. From what I recall, I was given the left over item used during my stay at the hospital. So my guess is they should of done the same thing in your case. If not, I would ask the question why not then make a phone call to your doctor's nurse and ask if you can be helped on this matter. She might be able to help you under these type of circumstances since the hospital did not assist you as they should of and the hospital assistants will be questioned why they did not provide you with those items before you left.

As a patient, you have the right to ask the question, why you were not given help from the hospital care takers and provided with a take home bag. This is a question to ask the doctor's nurse. I would start there and see what type of help they can provide. Be nice when speaking to the nurse and just let them know you are in need of getting something that will allow you to safely clean the incision area. Good luck and keep us updated!
 
katzy said:
That's wonderful that yours has been a success :)

Me too suffer from memory loss, but I think that was from the lamotrigine I was taking
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Surgery and the mix of medication will cause memory issues (not right away either) because AED medications have severe side effects. There are some medications that impact the memory so badly it is very difficult to handle.

I had serious issues with Lamictal over time, Felbatol and Banzel were two major ones as well.
 
suebear said:
Surgery and the mix of medication will cause memory issues (not right away either) because AED medications have severe side effects. There are some medications that impact the memory so badly it is very difficult to handle.

I had serious issues with Lamictal over time, Felbatol and Banzel were two major ones as well.
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Yea , what I don't get is why they don't put that on the label. A lot of people I have talked to have issues with their memory after taking Lamictal for a long time. I don't know what it was doing to my brain, but I "developed" ADD and memory loss after taking it.:tdown:
 
I have been on Lamictal for a little over a year and a half. After my surgery in april I stopped smoking marijuana (which I had been for to long). I am currently on 600mg of the Lamictal and am now happy with my memory. Who knows maybe it would be even better without the Lamitcal. But I'm happy with it :)
 
katzy said:
Oh wow .. I didn't even know there was something called DBS. Glad to hear everything's coming together for you. So you're seizure free now?

I was worried about having seizures while driving, but hearing what some of you have gone through, I don't think I should be complaining.
Click to expand...

I am down to one or two seizures a month in comparison to the 20 a month I had been having.. major difference.

The DBS was originally built as something for Parkinson's and it was discovered it also works as a neurological device. The benefits the DBS provides are the amount of settings it can provide in comparison to the VNS. For example, the VNS can only perform 33 settings where as the DBS can perform 48 settings. Not only that, the settings can also be changed and managed in different ways whereas the VNS cannot.

It is difficult to explain and I would rather not give detail since I am not a medical professional but what I can say is since we have chosen to go this route of surgery it has been well worth the time.
 
katzy said:
Yea , what I don't get is why they don't put that on the label. A lot of people I have talked to have issues with their memory after taking Lamictal for a long time. I don't know what it was doing to my brain, but I "developed" ADD and memory loss after taking it.:tdown:
Click to expand...

From my knowledge.. there had been discovery about Lamictal after the fact. The new information about memory issues came about from patients who had been taking it over a period of time. As to the length I am unsure. The only persons who are aware of that information are medical professionals and persons who work in the pharmacy industry.

That type of side effect is something I would report to the drug manufacturer as well as your neurologist so they are aware of the matter.
 
suebear said:
I am down to one or two seizures a month in comparison to the 20 a month I had been having.. major difference.

The DBS was originally built as something for Parkinson's and it was discovered it also works as a neurological device. The benefits the DBS provides are the amount of settings it can provide in comparison to the VNS. For example, the VNS can only perform 33 settings where as the DBS can perform 48 settings. Not only that, the settings can also be changed and managed in different ways whereas the VNS cannot.

It is difficult to explain and I would rather not give detail since I am not a medical professional but what I can say is since we have chosen to go this route of surgery it has been well worth the time.
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That's great news :)

suebear said:
From my knowledge.. there had been discovery about Lamictal after the fact. The new information about memory issues came about from patients who had been taking it over a period of time. As to the length I am unsure. The only persons who are aware of that information are medical professionals and persons who work in the pharmacy industry.

That type of side effect is something I would report to the drug manufacturer as well as your neurologist so they are aware of the matter.
Click to expand...

My neurologist didn't believe me at first when I said I'm having memory issues. In fact, she told me Lamictal is sometimes used to improve memory!
 
katzy said:
are you guys talking about the surgery to control your seizures? Did you have any side effects afterwards? like memory problems?

good luck to all of you :)
Click to expand...

Yeah. I got a RNS device battery change. The recovery wasn't that bad. But I did get that dandruff or sebaceous acne stuff. I have been noticing that my memory has been getting worse. That might be because of the frequency of the seizures, though. Hopefully the device helps better control the seizures.
 
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