Has anyone had brain surgery?

[petero]

So I'm going in for brain surgery within the next few weeks and they'll be taking out a piece of atrophy, along with a little pink matter I'm sure, as an over-corrective measure. I'll be on meds for a couple years still anyway but it still should take away my seizures. My Mom has a friend who has had this surgery. There's a type of vision obstruction it should likely occur in my lower right field, and a problem with the recollection of the names of things, both of which should come back to me. Regardless it's a pretty harrowing proposition for me, but I'm intrigued. Prayers

 

[Nakamova]

Hey petero, it's been a while, welcome back! :hello:

A bunch of CWE members past and present have had surgery. The link below will take you to our Surgery Forum. I'm sure others will weigh in too.

http://www.coping-with-epilepsy.com/forums/f41/

Good luck, definitely keep us posted as you go through the process.

 

[Porkette]

Hi Petro,

I've had brain surgery twice. The first time it was a video e.e.g. test but they drilled 7 holes in my head and put the electrodes directly on my brain to pinpoint the area of my brain that was triggering seizure.
The 2nd time I had surgery I had ultra sound surgery done and the Dr. put me out when they cut into my skull but I woke up like some people do and then they had me awake for the rest of the surgery so they could make sure I could read and they would prick me with a pin to make sure I was able to feel. They removed 75% of my right temporal lobe and all of my right hippocampus because it had gotten hard and shrunk from so many yrs. of seizures. This reduced my seizures 50-60% but after the surgery I had spinal fluid in my ears that took about 1 month to drain out along with my eyesight going really bad everything was dark in the house like someone wearing sunglasses but that got better in time. You may want to look into gamma knife surgery they often do that in one day they use high frequency radio waves to get rid of any damage in the brain that's triggering seizures. I will let you know that you may be on a soft food diet after the surgery because it hurts to chew some foods and you may feel really tired. It took me a couple of months until I had all of my energy back. I wish you the best of luck and May God Bless You!

Sue

 

[Cint]

I had a Left Temporal Lobectomy way back in 1990. I was seizure-free for 14 months and then the seizures were worse then before. In 1997 I had my first VNS surgery and I've had better success with that than the lobectomy. But I know they've come a long way with surgery since 1990. My neuro is trying to talk me into having the Laser surgery done. They would still need to drill on my head to place electrodes on my brain for testing. No thanks! No more drilling on my head! Not at my age.

 

[rock and roll]

I've had Brain surgery, it did improve my seizures unfortunately not enough as I'm now looking at a second surgery. I have no hesitation about doing it again though, it helped the first time, and with better technology, I'm hoping for a better result.

 

[seizuregirl]

I have also had brain surgery, I had 3cm's from my hippo-campus and 6cms from my right front temporal lobe removed to hopefully end them, but it didn't work, I am still having seizures, and I lost my short-term memory too.

 

[cadsgj]

Seizures for me probably started because of avm in brain... removed the malformations but seizures continued. Have had brain surgery two more times. Was told they did their best to keep me from losing speech and too much memory. I am happy they made the choices they did, but seizures still are regular parts of my life. They did their best to keep me where I could continue to be an affective husband. I am very happy and my surgeries have been a plus... least I often like to think so. My prayers are with you Petero, seizures gone and recovery quick.

 

[Music36]

I had laser ablation surgery on my left temporal lobe almost 22 months ago. Most of my left Hippocampus and Amygdala were removed. The surgery has been successful, so far. I am not having seizures, just occasional auras. I have had side effects (e.g., memory issues, more emotional), but it's worth it. My vision looking up above was temporarily effected, but then back to normal. Memory issues were worsened and then improved. I was having memory issues before surgery from the damage the seizures did (severe atrophy). My advice is to be patient b/c it takes a long time for the brain to heal. I started doing a lot of brain games (e.g., Lumosity.com) about two months after my surgery b/c it could maybe help with our memory issues. Definitely, doesn't hurt. Good luck!