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Upcoming Surgery

Sun, 11/02/2014 - 14:49

I am a 44 year old male who has had seizures for about 25 years.  Up until a year ago my seizures were nothing more than simple partial seizures that occurred about every 30 days, upon which I would typically have a cluster of about 5-8 seizures.  These events did not have much of an impact on life, as I was still able to function at full capacity.  In the past year, my seizures have progressed to complex partial seizures where I am now losing awareness during these events.  For this reason I have also lost my drivers license, as well as other challenges in day-to-day life.  The frequency of one day per month has not changed, but the type and intensity has.  It is for this reason that I am now scheduled to go in for right temporal lobe surgery in December of this year.  

As the surgery date gets closer and closer, my level of anxiety increases as well.  While I know that surgery is the right decision for me, and in some ways I am excited about the future outcome, I must admit that I am terrified of the procedure itself.  It is the feelings about the unkown that I find the scariest.  I am also struggling with the fact that the rest of family doesn't seem to "get it", and as a result I often feel like I am going through this on my own.  I appreciate that they all have a positive attitude and expect that everytihg is going to work out, however I wish that they could understand some of the fears that I am facing as well.  Getting upset with me when I talk about those fears, or simply ignoring them, does not help.  They are real.  

 

Comments

Your family may never get it,

Submitted by Amy Jo on Sun, 2014-11-02 - 15:51
Your family may never get it, or what you'll go through afterward. Is it ok for you to get support from someone else? Does your surgeon's office recommend anyone, they might know someone familiar with the range of needs before and after surgery. Calling your local foundation affiliate might give you more resources to draw upon from support groups to counseling or more.

I had surgery about 3 yrs ago

Submitted by Anonymous on Sat, 2014-11-08 - 01:06
I had surgery about 3 yrs ago. Im 45. Had to get brain mapping done so they could pinpoint the area. Mine was coming from the motor function area. So they coundnt do anything Kinda went in there for nothing. 90 staples and a shaved head. Have to say though as bad as it is it wasnt that bad. I know what you are thinking and you def get nervous and it can drive you nuts. One thing that really helped when I got home was the drugs for the pain. They gave me all the good stuff pecosets, etc. Tylenol was so much better.Sounds crazy but it was. Plus you get clogged up on the others. Tying to go to the bathroom with fresh stithes SUCKS! So make a plan for that. Rest up get prepared and trust the docs. Mine were great. Got it done at the U of P in Philadelphia. It took me a good week before I could get out of bed. Pain wasnt terrible at home. All in all I thought it was going to be the worst thing ever, but it wasnt. I wish you the best. Oh one other thing if you are interested.....I asked my docs if they would take pics of the surgery and I got a few. Was really cool. Maybe if you get some and show to the family that would clear up any thought. Seeing your own brain is pretty intense. Lots of love. 

DpayneHope things went good

Submitted by garr0622@yahoo.com on Thu, 2015-05-07 - 13:03
DpayneHope things went good for your surgery, I had the right temporal surgery done 17 years ago and glad I did.  I did have the memory loss issue, since it was in the right temporal. I did go through the 3 basic therapys (physical, occupational, and speech). One thing I'm glad about having this surgery done was that I was finally able to get my drivers license!!!  I do still have the memory issue and some seizures too. My drs. haven't been able to find a medicine that will stop the seizures yet but now he's recommended me to get the VNS and glad he did suggest that and I hope I'm able to get it too. Take care

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