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Pros and Cons to Surgery?
Fri, 08/17/2007 - 14:46Hello,
I just joined and have alot of questions. I'm 44 yrs. old and have had temporal lobe seizures since I was 5. Since age 24 the seizures have been controlled fairly well...just auras occasionally. The last 5-6 yrs. things have been gradually picking up, I'm sure due to hormones starting to change. I finally had to give up driving in July. That's been very difficult. I'm a Mom and wife and work full time. I went through the first Phase of testing for surgery. They're ready to do the second Phase of surgically implanting the electrodes if I want to. I have so many mixed feelings about going through this. I have a 5 yr. old daughter who's starting school in a few weeks and I just got home after already being in the hospital for 11 days for the first phase of testing.
For those that have been through it, how successful was the surgery? What was the recovery time? Did you have any problems after? How many of you went through the surgery for EEG testing and were not a candidate the actual Epilepsy surgery? Has anyone had this done through Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit? What was your opinion on the team of Dr.'s they have? How much is VNS Therapy used? I have more questions, but I'll stop here for now.
Thanks!
Judy
Comments
Re: Pros and Cons to Surgery?
Submitted by bernardcwe on Sun, 2007-09-30 - 21:03
Hi Judy, you are welcome to check out the chart linked below in my signature. If you are having second thoughts/cold feet, you might find something there which you can discuss with your doctor(s) as an alternative/option to try first.
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Check out my chart of alternative epilepsy treatments.
Re: Re: Pros and Cons to Surgery?
Submitted by pick61 on Mon, 2007-10-01 - 10:42
Hi Judy:
I had a left temporal lobectomy done in July of this year, after suffering seizures for 46 years. Like you, I am a single mom (I have two teenage sons). They did go to stay with their dad while I was in the hospital. I didn't have a lot of physical support, but emotionally my Dad and the rest of my family and friends have been wonderful (including many of the people I met here).
I had an awesome team of doctors who worked on me and so far all is working out well (touch wood!). There have been some memory lapses and some emotional breakdowns since coming home, but I have been told that they are well within the range of normal for this type of surgery. Would I do it again -- yes. This is my chance at freedom and I plan to grab it by the horns.
Re: Pros and Cons to Surgery?
Submitted by karend03 on Sun, 2007-09-30 - 20:14
Hi Judy! I've had the same problem since I was 10. Neither drugs nor the VNS helped much until my dr. put me on a combination of Keppra and Mysoline. I was still having seizures, just not quite as bad as before, when he recommended surgery. I had that done in July 2004. I was in the hospital for about three weeks, but after I got out, I really felt better than I expected. I still have occasional seizures mostly after taking some kind of antibiotic or some pain medicin for migraines. My dr. recommended that I not drive for a year after the surgery. I was kept sedated most of the time in the hospital, but once I came home, there wasn't that much pain. The main thing that bothered me was the haircut, but I would still go through it again