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Surgery Results
Mon, 07/24/2006 - 12:58Topic: Surgery and Devices
i have had complex partial seizures since i was 8. they r controled but not very well, i take lamicatl 200am 200pm and sometimes i get double vision and feel sick from it. also if i miss one dosage i have a all out seizure within 12 hours. i still have oras occasionally. my seizures r incredibly painful and i feel as though i'm sufficating. every time i have one i wish someone would kill me to stop it. i recover quickly though ijust get really tired and disoriented. anyway, i had some free testing done at NIH in va, an MRI and EEG. i have had these tests a few times before from my normal doctor, but was always told they didn't find anything. well NIH found something, they said i'm having tiny seizures in the right side of my brain that i don't know about. they also said it causes learning imparment and stop the brain from functioning correctly. also that surgery is an option and that it would help correct that, and stop or at least reduce my epilepsy. i've heard good things and bad things about the surgery and wanted some opinions on it.
Comments
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Surgery Results
Submitted by MsMedz on Sat, 2006-08-12 - 13:26
Thanks for the info. I presented my best case regarding the pain meds to my doctor but was quickly shot down. I admit to having quite a bit of narcotic allergies but that is exactly why I carefully consider asking for pain meds in the first place. I am no stranger to pain (have had 2 bouts with kindey stones, gallbladder removed, neck & back surgeries & 36 hrs of child labor with 2 csections) At times, this throbbing headache is unbearable. Moday will mark 2 weeks since surgery, and I will also have the sutures removed. I am working up a plea to bargain for something to ease this pain. I can only hope they will reconsider their decision and prescribe something to get me through this.
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Surgery Results
Submitted by mommy2kyra on Sat, 2006-08-12 - 10:36
Hi Sherri,
It has only been a couple of weeks since your surgery, and it does take time to recover physically (not to mention emotions). I can totally relate to your experience. I am sorry that the hospital only held you for a couple of days afterward. My surgeon wanted to let me go after 2 days as well, but the epi held me for another day (he would have done yet another, but I was having a heck of a skin reaction with the bed sheets!).
I had absolutely no luck with the headaches. NOTHING worked, just time. It took about 5 or 6 weeks for the headaches to go away, you'll be there in a couple of weeks. The jawpain is universal, and it is intense for a good month. But that pain will begin easing in a while. It won't be as intense, and it will occur on mostly yawns before disappearing. It has been 5 months since my surgery, and the jawpain has been gone for a couple of weeks. I'm not sure if the jawpain is dependent upon the size of your jaw or exactly where the focus is??
I can relate to your feelings about visiting with friends and family. Try to keep visitors one-to-one until your pain eases a bit. Stick with those who are willing to just sit with you and keep you company. You don't have to entertain them, or vice-versa (since you aren't in the mood anyway). Your pain will ease soon, and you will be more in the mood for visits.
If you're still trying the prescription med to ease the pain, and it isn't working, switch to Advils in daytime. See what kind of difference that makes. For me, I had Advils during the day and my pain med before bed. My pain med let me get a couple hours of sleep, I'd wake in excruciating pain and take another. I also tried switching prescription pain meds, but that didn't help either. I was just in that percentage where nothing worked. Every time I took something, I'd rate my level of pain. My level was never lower than a 6 (when I felt "best"), and that table gave me a good idea of when I was ready to go off pain meds in full.
Once I eased up on my pain meds, I was able to begin eating again. Up until that, I could only keep little things down occasionally. As a result, I was down to 97 pounds (normal is 115-120 for me) six weeks after surgery. I must have looked real bad (since I'm so self-critical and even I saw myself as super-skinny). I have since made a big effort to both eat healthy and exercise. I started slowly with leg lifts and sit ups. A week or so before my 3 month mark, I added push ups and walks. That exercise helped a lot emotionally and I am back to my orignial weight.
I wish you the very best! I hope that your pain eases very soon and you get to feeling good. Take care...(((hugs)))
Heather :)
Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Surgery Results
Submitted by aussie2006 on Sat, 2006-08-12 - 00:10
Hi I am no expert just a lucky patient who was able to have surgery, however having said that ,it seems to me you were home too soon, and needed more time in hospital recovering where help was readily available. Yes the jaw is sore and in my case was not back to normal completely until about 3.5 months after the operation. Think more closely about having your family around, as you said they want to help you, have say 1 or 2 around at a time so you dont feel you have to attend to too many people, if your family care they will want to support and help you- give them a chance. As far as going out is concerned dont worry to much about that for now, concentrate on getting yourself back to normal and do things slowly. I was off work 7 weeks . Have you tried a powerful pain reliever like panadine forte or nurofen plus for the headache, the nurofen plus was really good for me. I was still getting some headaches a couple of weeks after the op, but the headaches reduced in severity as time passed. Good Luck Aussie 2006