It's been a little over 4 weeks since my right medial temporal lobectomy. I understand everything went well in surgery. The nurse practitioner called a few days after the surgery and told me that what they removed was not a neoplasm. I take that to mean that it was not cancerous at all. She said the neurosurgeon will explain the results in more detail at my follow-up visit.
I follow up with the neurosurgeon next week and am anxious to get back to normal. I think I underestimated the amount of fatigue I would have. The headaches have varied, but are getting less frequent and less intense each day. In fact, I find that I don't take much of the pain medication I was prescribed. What is generally worse than the headaches is the pain in the jaw on the side the surgery was done. For some reason it hurts to open my mouth very wide, which makes eating uncomfortable. Chewing doesn't hurt very much, just the actual opening of the mouth.
At night I have been staying awake until at least 1am and sometimes 3am. Granted, I am sleeping in a little later than usual in the mornings, but it still is odd that I have to lay in bed for so many hours before getting tired.
My vision is improving. I still have some double-vision. It is most noticeable in the lower one-third of my field of vision. The upper fields are almost unaffected. The vision is improving each day it seems. I do find myself being more careful with how I walk, doing so slowly and deliberately to avoid falling.
My sense of smell and taste I seems to have been effected for the worse, but that is something I think I can learn to live with.
Overall I have been very blessed with so many family, friends and wonderful coworkers thinking and praying for me. I don't seem to have any problems speaking English or Spanish, as I have been bilingual for about half of my life. I do have some stuttering, and I am wondering if that is because of the Keppra they put me on to prevent seizures. I had a stuttering problem at times when I was on Keppra for several years, but never had one growing up. I am beginning to play the piano and violin again. I don't really notice any deficit with that either. It is more difficult than usual to play due to double-vision and just not feeling great in general. Those of you who play a musical instrument know that your playing is not the best when your body is not running at 100%. I really think I will regain all of my playing abilities back as I heal and practice a little.
Besides being told that they didn't find cancer, the next best news has been no seizures. This is a big deal since I usually have at least 15 per month. I have not had a single seizure since surgery! The first few days after surgery, and a couple of other times, I felt like I may have a seizure coming on in a while, but never did have one. I'm really hopeful that I can be seizure free again and come off the small amount of Keppra that I am on. If all goes well I could be working nights and driving again someday. For now, I just can't wait to get back to work. I want to feel like I'm doing something productive
Thanks to everyone for you thoughts and prayers!
I follow up with the neurosurgeon next week and am anxious to get back to normal. I think I underestimated the amount of fatigue I would have. The headaches have varied, but are getting less frequent and less intense each day. In fact, I find that I don't take much of the pain medication I was prescribed. What is generally worse than the headaches is the pain in the jaw on the side the surgery was done. For some reason it hurts to open my mouth very wide, which makes eating uncomfortable. Chewing doesn't hurt very much, just the actual opening of the mouth.
At night I have been staying awake until at least 1am and sometimes 3am. Granted, I am sleeping in a little later than usual in the mornings, but it still is odd that I have to lay in bed for so many hours before getting tired.
My vision is improving. I still have some double-vision. It is most noticeable in the lower one-third of my field of vision. The upper fields are almost unaffected. The vision is improving each day it seems. I do find myself being more careful with how I walk, doing so slowly and deliberately to avoid falling.
My sense of smell and taste I seems to have been effected for the worse, but that is something I think I can learn to live with.
Overall I have been very blessed with so many family, friends and wonderful coworkers thinking and praying for me. I don't seem to have any problems speaking English or Spanish, as I have been bilingual for about half of my life. I do have some stuttering, and I am wondering if that is because of the Keppra they put me on to prevent seizures. I had a stuttering problem at times when I was on Keppra for several years, but never had one growing up. I am beginning to play the piano and violin again. I don't really notice any deficit with that either. It is more difficult than usual to play due to double-vision and just not feeling great in general. Those of you who play a musical instrument know that your playing is not the best when your body is not running at 100%. I really think I will regain all of my playing abilities back as I heal and practice a little.
Besides being told that they didn't find cancer, the next best news has been no seizures. This is a big deal since I usually have at least 15 per month. I have not had a single seizure since surgery! The first few days after surgery, and a couple of other times, I felt like I may have a seizure coming on in a while, but never did have one. I'm really hopeful that I can be seizure free again and come off the small amount of Keppra that I am on. If all goes well I could be working nights and driving again someday. For now, I just can't wait to get back to work. I want to feel like I'm doing something productive
Thanks to everyone for you thoughts and prayers!
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