nervous for surgery

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vagellie

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Hey, i'm new to this site and trying to fish around for some info. i recenty was told i was a canidate for temprol lobe lobectomy. trying to figure out weather its worth it, i have activity on both sides yet on my left i have a big abnormality. they say if i do it on the left it would reduce my siesures dramaticly yet might not stop them completely. been through all the meds pretty much and was told that the longer i wait the more damage my memory will take.. any advice , suggestions or even info from those u had gotten it would be great, i'd like to know the possitives and negetives i will face . tyvm vagellie
 
Welcome Vagelle

I've been offered various operations a few times. I refused because at the time they had no clue what was causing the seizures and were going to just blindly cut the corpus callosum or other parts of the brain.
There have been people who have had successes with operations but there are also people whom it has helped for only a certain amount of time.

Personally I would ask the doctor what are the statistics. How many of these operations have been performed & how many have been successful. Also, how do they define "successful". Also have him/her explain how removing the "abnormality" on your brain will prevent a seizure & the scarring will not keep provoking neural misfiring.

Also, I would check out as many scientific studies as possible and see what they say. When doing check how recent the study is, how many subjects were studied (it's not that relevant if only 15 or 20 people were monitored), whether they cite their findings, what methods were used and how extreme the results were (only a small increase can mean it was just a random difference). As well, check out the background of the people doing the research. If there is numerous people being given credit then research the first & last names mentioned. They are the 2 most important people.

Here are 2 studies I found when doing a quick search though I didn't have time to research the studies authors.


Preoperative MRI predicts outcome of temporal lobectomy


Pathological Status of the Mesial Temporal Lobe Predicts Memory Outcome from Left Anterior Temporal Lobectomy
 
Hi vagellie, Welcome.. Here is my story. I had a Right temporal lobe ectomy in 1988. Before surgury I had complex partial seizures. I was also told that I had activity of both sides but if I had the surgery it should dramatly reduce my seizures. My case it did make them worse as I had tonic clonics. They came often and kept rolling one after another. I spent more time in the hosptial after surgery then I ever did before. I thought for sure I had made a horible mistake. After alot of trial and error my doctor finally found a combination of medication that controlled my seizures. Untill reciently my seizures My seizures had been controlled since 1997. Looking back I do not regret my surgery. I had my life back. I was driving again. Working full time. However reciently I've been having auras again. Lost my car again. the doctor uped my meds. So far every thing is going well. Everybodys ep is different and surgery will effects every body differntly. Good luck on you decision let me know if you have questions I will be happy to try and give you my expierence and opinion.
 
Hi Vagellie and welcome,

I had a left temporal lobectomy in 1990 and was seizure free for 14 months. Before my surgery, I was having 4-5 CP seizures a day. When I started having seizures again, not only were they CP, but also TC, not to mention memory problems and depression! I've tried nearly every medication on the market, to no avail. In 1997 I had the VNS surgery. It hasn't completely stopped seizures, but has subdued them to some degree.

Here is another website about surgery for epilepsy:
http://www.epilepsy.com/EPILEPSY/surgery_results

Whatever you decide, I hope it works out well for you.
 
Hi Vagellie,


I have left front temporal lobe epilepsy which is from scarring on my left front temporal lobe. I had Left Front Temporal Laboctomy in March 2011 & I was lucky enough to have a good recovery.
Before my surgery I was having mainly auras & complex partials on a regular basis, since the surgery I haven't had any seizures (not even an aura). I have just passed my 1 year seizure free anniversary & am now aiming to see if I can go 2 years seizure free.

Good luck with your decision.
 
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