WADA test

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Anyone have one of those done?

They put a tub in the artery in your hip area (not sure what its called). Lead it all the way up and put half your brain asleep at a time. Dang doctor said it was a reversible stroke! I cried getting prepared just from that term. They did one on me to see which side of my brain stored memories.

It wasn't horrible. Felt really weird numbing half my body, they just did the right side because that's where they'd operate. She showed me flash cards and had me repeat them after they did it. The freakiest part was on a xray screen I could see the tube as it went up to my neck! :what:
 
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I spoke to another girl that had it done a few weeks ago, and she echoed your same thoughts you did. Next, she has to do an intracranial EEG, and is not looking forward to that, at all :( She was disheartened that I didn't have to go through either of these additional tests to determine candidacy of surgery. I explained that our neurosurgeon would NOT put her through all of this if there was no good reason. He's extremely brilliant and talented, but it was obviously in her best interest for the surgeon to get the additional information from these results, in her case.

Honestly, I think it would scare me, too!
Wishing you only the best, Katie!
 
A test that is so uncomfortable, but so essential to post operative patients! was glad when it was over!
that night though scared myself to death, because i pulled the stitch and the pain started me blacking out, thought i was stroking. DON'T PANIC, JUST MOVE SLOWLY! once that tube is out there is total safety from any life threatening moments, they never tell you everything though, they think we know. good to leave experiences here i suppose!!!!!!
 
A test that is so uncomfortable, but so essential to post operative patients!

Post operative patients? I thought it was done for patients who were candidates for brain surgery like 2nd chances said. I had it done when I was considering brain surgery. It is done to find out where a patient's speech/memory is controlled (most folks it is the left side). If the seizures are coming from that side, as mine are, they may also do a fMRI or brain mapping.

During the WADA, they put 1/2 of the brain to sleep for a few minutes by injecting sodium amytal and then test your abilities by asking questions. I remember understanding what was being said, but all of a sudden I could not speak and couldn't move. I didn't find it painful at all. Just a very strange sensation.
For more info, check this website:
http://www.epilepsy.com/epilepsy/surgery_wada
 
I don't remember it hurting. They put up a sheet so I couldn't see exactly what was happening. I only knew because I could peek over at that screen.

The worst part was I had to lay flat for an hour while the artery clotted. But right in the middle of the time I REALLY had to pee. I had to keep down so they just wedged a bed pan under me. :eek:

Plus while being prepared my nurse thought he was hilarious and kept making lame jokes. He wasn't. Just corny. Lol
 
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Yeah, more on that WADA test!

So a lot was explained before hand to me about the procedure that i was to happen back in 2008! The WADA test named after the person who created the test is genius, but sort of primitive!!!!
Before surgery but in theatre on my back neuro psychologist tested me on some language.
They made a small cut in my groin muscle and fed a very thin tube into my groin artery! It felt like someone was riding my leg, pushing the tube is difficult, so that was uncomfortable!
As they go they, the theater surgeons watches it's course on a screen, this is an enlargement of an ongoing scan which i was allowed to look at, but after a while chose not to! I could see the tube and capillaries inside my body.
One told me before the would navigate around the heart by using different arteries and never going to the heart! Their aim was to get the tube to the back of the lower cranium! This is where they can position the anesthetic stuff towards which side of the brain they want to go and test! This gives a short space of time to test whether when the brain. Hopefully when the synaptic pathways are not firing because of the anesthetic i could still use my language acquisition network through my memory. In my case the hippocampus was scarred (in scarrosis), so if this area was touched the question was would it damage my speech processes?
So the tube reached it's point, i had a look! I could ftaste it for a second then they said a neuro psychologist will test me on some language, he did, i thought it was a bit daft and joked about it! Only because it was so simple, which meant the test had gone well! The neuro P. said that was a good sign!
Then it all the tubing came out gently, but a little bit quicker than it went in! carefully does it!
Only said it was primitive because of all the pushing!!!!!!

So the up shot was, the drug switched my right side of my brain off and the left side compensated!
or
my language is dealt with on the other side, but unlikely! The other tests all confirmed the above sentence!
 
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