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Post Operative: Left Temporal Lobectomy

Fri, 03/03/2006 - 07:28
My boyfriend had a left temporal lobectomy two weeks ago. He's recovering nicely, however, he's having significant problems with short term memory and "tip of the tongue" phenomenon. However, his doctors told him that would happen. Nonetheless, he is *very* frustrated that he can't remember new things. He just returned to work two days ago, and the frustration is constant. Are there any tools or natural remedies that will help him improve his short-term memory? I know this is a very difficult thing for him, and I'd like to be able to help him any way that I can.

Comments

Re: Re: Re: Post Operative: Left Temporal Lobectomy

Submitted by reluctant to accept on Fri, 2006-06-09 - 08:50
Karl, I hope everything is going well with you and the VNS. I am very interested in learning about the job types of fellow seizure sufferers. I only started having seizures 1 year ago at age 40 and I am worried that I will have to cut back, change or stop working if I have the left temp. lobotomy. I am in the end of testing to determine whether I am elegible for the surgery so I am tyring to find out as much as I can. I am a nurse in the ED. Thanks again for telling some of your story.

Re: Re: Re: Re: Post Operative: Left Temporal Lobectomy

Submitted by kwgreulich on Fri, 2006-06-09 - 13:14
I have definitely had to make changes in my career. Prior to being diagnosed i was a National Park Ranger and i was taking the written test to renew my driving licence for 18-wheelers when the first grand mal occurred that someone could see. ( I was single and believe i had at least one before that at home and now that i know what epilepsy is, i know that partial complex and petit mals occured back in the 1960s. ) I had to be able to do law enforcement and work in the woods doing driving and a variety of other jobs. They tried to force disability retirement, but i fought it and had to move to other work. I already had a BS degree in Forestry related to Recreation Mgmt. from UC Berkeley and i then proceeded to do graduate work studying Silviculture ( the science of growing trees. ) I have not been able to drive for over 26 years and for several years was stuck in the offices, but i got certified to do overhead positions, dispatching, etc for fires so i have even been on fires from Alaska to Florida and dispatched out of the National Interagency Fire Center in Boise Idaho. With the job i have now i am out in the woods for most of the summer about 2 days per week as an Ecologist for the US Forest Service. We need to keep going after the best we can. As for me, my VNS was activated for the first time yesterday and i am hoping it will help. Karl W. Greulich

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