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Im getting surgery on the 25th

Thu, 01/11/2007 - 12:21
Hi everyone, my name is Christine. Im 21, and I was diagnosed with a cavernous hemangioma in October 2006. I had two seizures from it, a petit-mal/partial(?) last August, and the grand-mal in October. Im currently on two medications, Dilantin and Lamactal(sp?). Ive had two MRIs done already.... and the cavernous hemangioma is on the right top side of my head. I have the first MRI scans of my head here at these links if you wanna see. These were taken a day after my seizure....and you can even see the slight hemmorrage around the lesion- http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v55/rockinsteady/Scan0002.jpg http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v55/rockinsteady/Scan0001.jpg Its about an inch or two in diameter (the leison itself). (as for the most recent MRI, ill be seeing those results tomorrow.) Im SUPPOSED to be getting this sucker out this month, on the 25th. But Im just really nervous. Its a "right frontal lobe craniotomy with frameless" (thats what it said on my surgery letter).... what exactly does "frameless" mean in terms of this surgery? Id really like to know. Besides from all those tubes theyre gonna stick in me and the surgery itself, Im nervous on how I will be after the surgery. Can anyone give me some advice on what Im going to expect after surgery? How I will be feeling, what theyre going to do with me, etc.... And the tube that they stick in your nose which goes down your stomach......is it really bothersome and painful? My biggest fear is also waking up in the middle of operation... will that happen? Silly question, I know.

Comments

Re: Im getting surgery on the 25th

Submitted by RTL on Thu, 2007-01-18 - 23:17
Christine, Some brain surgery is done with the head mounted in a "stereotactic frame". It fixes the head in a given position and is used to "aim" the medical instruments based on the information gleaned from the diagnostic imaging. One would assume that "frameless" means they won't be using the frame, and it appears that frameless surgery is a more recent and presumably better technique. I'm not sure how to comment on how you might feel post-op. I had temporal lobe surgery in 2003, so I can only tell you how I felt. The following link details the lead-up to my surgery and the post-op recovery: http://www3.ns.sympatico.ca/kkehoe/epilepsy/main.html Kevin

Re: Re: Im getting surgery on the 25th

Submitted by dmh on Mon, 2007-01-29 - 15:50
Kevin, I will be going in next month. I went on line to that web site and was looking over the surgery and the post surgery sections. Is that what you had to go through as well ?? AAAAGGGGGG

Re: Re: Re: Im getting surgery on the 25th

Submitted by RTL on Mon, 2007-01-29 - 20:33
DMH, Go through as well? I don't understand. If you're referring to the link I posted, it is actually what *I* went through, documented by myself as best as I can describe/remember all the details. Kevin

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