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Left temporal lobectomy

Sun, 12/10/2006 - 18:37

Topic: Surgery and Devices

Hi! This is my first time in the community forum, and I'm hoping to hear from those of you who have had a left temporal lobectomy. I've had partial seizures for 12 years, and was properly diagnosed about 2 years ago. I was told for years that my seizures were panic attacks. Go figure. Anyway, I've been on 8 medications without success, and am now being told that a lobectomy is my best option. My MRI shows a definitive lesion on my left temporal lobe. I'm a 34 yr old woman, married and have 2 young boys (3 and 4.5 yrs old) and I'm most worried about the speech and memory issues that could arise after surgery. How long is the recovery process, both from the perspective of regaining speech and memory capabilities, and from the perspective of being able to be physically active? How severe is the word-finding issue? I really worry about the impact the surgery will have on my ability to be there for my children. Are there any other young moms out there who've had surgery, and if so - how did you deal with it? And how did your children cope with the situation? Any advice would be appreciated. I meet with my neurosurgeon at UCSF in a few weeks. -FMS

Comments

Re: Left temporal lobectomy

Submitted by Spacey in O Town on Tue, 2009-05-26 - 20:30

Hi, FMS, Like Candee, I have a very similar story-- I am 35 with complex partial seizures uncontrolled by medicine. I've had them for 11 years now and am starting testing at UCSF to see if I am a surgery candidate. Did you have the surgery? If so, do you feel it was a success? And how did you like UCSF/ your neurosurgeon (who was it there?). I hope that if you had the procedure you are experiencing a wonderful outcome, as well as your family. Truly, SM

Re: Left temporal lobectomy

Submitted by chumtochatwith on Mon, 2006-12-11 - 13:06

Hi FMS, I had a left temporal lobectomy a the end of September/06 and I also have two boys ages 10 and 13. Now they warn you of speech and memory problems possibly but you know what, I haven't had any problems whatsoever. My speech is just fine and no memory loss at all. It took me about three weeks before I started to feel kind of myself again but I had a very supportive family behind me so that helped greatly. You aren't supposed to lift anything over 20 lbs for the first month or so so it helped me because my husband and my children took over all household chores and responsibilities. I had a lot of nausea afterwards but I coped with that by taking Gravol to avoid vomiting. That worked really well. After three weeks, I was fine though. My kids are a little older but I just prepared them by being open about everything and just telling them what was going to happen. They were very supportive and dealt with everything just fine. They literally grew up with me having my seizures and it always affected them because my seizures were triggered by music so it was a constant concern. Anyways, it was all well worth it because we have music back in our home again and it is wonderful. I hope everything goes well for you. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask. Good luck! Chumtochatwith

Re: Re: Left temporal lobectomy

Submitted by fms3637 on Sat, 2006-12-16 - 18:15

Thanks Chumtochatwith, I appreciate your response. It's comforting to hear about your success story, and how supportive your family has been for you. I have so many questions - I hope you don't mind my asking! Are you completely seizure-free now? Do you still have to take medication? And when were you told you could drive again? How long was it after surgery before you were able to be out and about? Were you bedridden at all or have to undergo any rehabilation? My WADA results indicate that my memory resides on my right side, but my language resides on my left so the surgery will be performed while I'm awake. Was this the case for you? If so, how scary was it? I would much rather be totally knocked out for the surgery. Do you feel like your memory is any better after the surgery? I know it hasn't been that long, but I'm just wondering if you've noticed any difference. Mine right now is so bad, any incremental change would be great. Thanks again for your response - hope to hear from you soon! -FMS

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