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Hematome. Seizures. Cyst. Connections?

Sun, 02/10/2019 - 17:36
Hello, I have a long, and somewhat extensive history with brain issues and seizures. It starts back in 1989, my senior year in high school. Shortly after graduation I was found with a large subdural hematoma that basically filled the left side of my skull, pushing my brain to the right and putting pressure on the optic nerve on that side as well as the brain stem area. I had no seizures. Within 3 days I had surgery to evacuate the blood from my skull. After the surgery, I was placed on anti-seizure medication (which I can’t remember what it was now) for a period of time and never had any seizures. Forward to April of 2013. I was 42 and had went to bed at 11pm. About 11:30pm I woke to find three friends from the FD (I was a police officer) standing in my room. They told me I had a seizure, which I refuted. After looking at my wife and daughter,I realized something occurred. After getting to the hospital, I tried drinking some water and could not swallow due to the pain from my tongue. About an hour later I tried to stand up to go to the bathroom, and every muscle in my body hurt like nothing I have experienced. ER staff confirmed I did have a Grand Mal seizure. This was late Monday night/early Tuesday morning. It was not until later in the week before I was not having any pain in any muscles. They performed an MRI and did not see anything other than a cyst behind my left eye that they didn’t seem to worry about. I was then referred to the Ohio State University to consult with a neurosurgeon about the cyst. He determined surgery was not required to remove/drain the cyst at that time. (It is still there). I did not know the size of the cyst (My profile picture) until I spoke with the neurologist. Due to issues with my medical retirement from the police department, I went to the Cleveland Clinic for a second opinion and further testing. I was kept for a week hooked up to an EEG to attempt to catch a seizure. The only thing they recorded was some abnormal activity from the area around the cyst,but nothing that could be called a seizure. The neurologist stated that she was 98% sure the cyst caused the seizure due to the activity that saw. Again, neurosurgeons there stated they did not think surgery was required unless more issues that can be related to the cyst. Both the hematoma and the cyst could be related, but it is basically what came first, the hematoma or the cyst. I have some absence seizures according to my wife, that I did not notice. She states that I will “zone out” in conversation for a few seconds and I will coment on something she had said a few moments before. I’ve noticed since the seizure that my memory is not very good. I’ve also seem to get “tongue tied” more often and my balance seems to be off. Talking with the neurologists, they told me that the left frontal lobe affects these areas I am experiencing issues with. I am still working through all of this 6 years later. I hope I can learn more from others here and maybe help someone else going through something similar.

Comments

I suffer from complex partial

Submitted by msanders21989 on Sun, 2019-02-17 - 15:06
I suffer from complex partial seziure, in both lobes of the brain, in which I also experience the “zone out” effect. ( my eyes become fixed, I lose the ability to speak ,and most voluntarly movement.) However,unlike people who suffer “black-out” seziures,  I am always aware that I am having a seizure, when I have it. 

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