Frontal lobe resection? Anyone?

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Cez

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Sorry to start a new thread, but my neuro has put me on the path of surgical assessment, he seems to think I'm a strong candidate despite clear MRI's (scheduled for one in a few weeks my last one was 10 years ago!).

I have frontal lobe epilepsy and I haven't managed to find a lot of helpful info online as 90% of surgery articles and papers refer to temperal reactions. So basically has anyone here had frontal lobe surgery/grid EEG? I'd love to hear your experiences as I'm pretty terrified especially about personality/motor implications. So any side effects etc?.

I already know the prognosis of frontal surgery is not as successful as temporal. All the neuro tells me is they believe the focus may be near my hand function which isn't a whole lot of help but I guess I wont know until I have the grid surgery. Any help would be awesome. Thanks!
 
Cez said:
Sorry to start a new thread, but my neuro has put me on the path of surgical assessment, he seems to think I'm a strong candidate despite clear MRI's (scheduled for one in a few weeks my last one was 10 years ago!).

I have frontal lobe epilepsy and I haven't managed to find a lot of helpful info online as 90% of surgery articles and papers refer to temperal reactions. So basically has anyone here had frontal lobe surgery/grid EEG? I'd love to hear your experiences as I'm pretty terrified especially about personality/motor implications. So any side effects etc?.

I already know the prognosis of frontal surgery is not as successful as temporal. All the neuro tells me is they believe the focus may be near my hand function which isn't a whole lot of help but I guess I wont know until I have the grid surgery. Any help would be awesome. Thanks!
Click to expand...

This may or may not help but a place I have always gone to and began research on medical procedures is Google Scholar. To find it, go to the search engine itself, at the top click on More; a drop down will appear then click on Even More. Scan down until you find Scholar, click it.

You will either get another window or be taken right to a search engine called Google Scholar. This particular search engine is quite special as it allows you to seek out white papers on many documents that have been published. In this case you are wanting to search for anything that has been written and published on frontal lobe surgery.

So type in frontal lobe surgery into the search box then click on search. There are options which you can attempt trying however I have found by typing in what I want shows me where to find it. Another option you can try is to place quotations around your keywords like this "frontal lobe surgery" as that will be an exact search. Keep in mind it may or may not show but it is worth an attempt and I like trying both just to see what appears.

What I suggest as you go through your results is to look for items that appear with a DOC or PDF in the title. In most cases, after you click the title, you will have direct access and be able to view, read, and print the article. Using the Scholar search engine does require footwork however it is well worth the time because I have been able to find a lot of helpful knowledge both medical and other documentation for my dissertation paper. =)

Another epilepsy resource that comes to mind is the EFA - Epilepsy Foundation of America as they might have information on this type surgery but I am unsure. It could be worth a phone call to the nearest local facility in your area for more information.

If I can think of any further resources I will be certain to let you know. Hope the above are able to get you started with your important research.
 
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Hey just wanted to say I wish I could offer some info but my surgery was temporal lobe, rather than frontal.. But how is your research going? I think I'm going to start doing some myself too :)
 
Hey Amoobaa, My research hasnt turned up much if I'm honest, the stuff I have found is pretty contradictory! Although it seems surgical techniques have advanced in the last 10 years improving prognosis. It seems any info that isnt fairly old is difficult to find, I have turned up some useful info though e.g surgery is more successful on the right side, and one seizure foci rather than a few etc. I will trek on...I have my MRI in 2 weeks which is the first step, my last one was 10 years ago! :s
 
Hi Cez,
I had right frontal lobectomy in October of 2012. I had all kinds of test done and were finally able to see that I had 2 abnormalities, one in the right frontal part and the other in the center back portion of my brain(that one they say is to risky to operate and remove). I cant remember the exact location or what its called. But they removed about a lemon sized portion of my brain on my right front side. Unfortunately, because of the other abnormality I still have seizures even while taking 3 seizure medications. My memory is not good, but I think its a combination of the seizures I still have, medication and the surgery all balled into one big mess!!!

I sometimes cant think of right words I need when Im talking and am always forgetting what I was about to do. I've noticed its hard for me to make decisions about things. I hope I've helped a little. If I can help with anything else just ask away ok?
 
Hi crsty, Thanks for the useful info. Its nice to hear from someone whos had the surgery. My memory is already so bad I probably wouldnt notice!

May I ask a personal question? Im guessing you didnt have a clear MRI scan? Lemon sized sounds pretty big, as my MRI is clear but my EEG's are not. I would ask if you think the surgery is worth it, but it sounds like its still early days for you, I hope it all works out well :)

I'm fairly terrified about the whole thing, but i suppose I should wait for the next round of testing before making any big decisions. Would you say the side effects of the surgery are particularly difficult to live with? Sorry for all the questions, thanks again for the reply x
 
You can ask me any questions you'd like, no worries! My neurologist ordered a number of MRI's for me to have and nothing ever came up, I was have 15-20 seizures daily...it wasnt until 8yrs. later when they finally sent me to Shands in Gainesville and they did different kind of MRI and testing that it showed the 2 abnormalities.

Surgery was totally worth it to me, I've gone from having that many a day to having maybe 5-8 a month..I had memory problems from the seizures before so its nothing new to me. Good Luck!
 
My doctor is bringing up the topic of surgery every once in a while. My standard EEGs have been clear, but my MRIs have not. I'm on a waiting list for the video EEG. Has anyone had surgery with a normal EEG (even on video EEG) but abnormal MRI? My MRIs are showing white matter in a frontal lobe where there shouldn't be any, and apparently my seizures and what happens during them are consistent with a problem where this stray white matter is located.
 
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