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Missing school for surgery
Fri, 08/29/2008 - 09:29Comments
Re: Missing school for surgery
Submitted by baltonen on Thu, 2008-09-04 - 19:08
I had my surgery (an anteromesial left temporal lebectomy) on Dec 20, 1988. I was out of the hospital on December 31st. I was at Powell's books in Portland, Oregon, on January 2nd, purchasing books for my production of a display at the local museum. That display was completed in about a week, and was open to public view one week later.
This type of neurosurgery really doesn't do much to modify your ability to learn or recall, although some memories or cognitive associations seem to have to "click" back in place over the next few days or weeks. For me, it took more work to get some of my mid-college level math skills back than to do chemistry lab related work. And some of my language/writing skills seemed to be slowed down a little (most vocabulary and finding the right words--I especially had a problem with proper names that soundor spell alike.) [However, it is important to realize, that as a male, I possibly have more left cerebral dominance than you making me slightly slower at recovering left hemispheric skills post-op since I had a left lobe operation. For you, a right hemisphere resection might have little to no effect on your writing depending on your neurosurgery test outcomes, and a left lobectomy only a minimal impact.]
After the operation, I began my career as an adjunct professor in chemistry for nearly 20 years and a writer for trade magazines and some science and history journals. Following the operation, I went back to my chemistry lab on campus in late February, wrote up my new course plans over the next few weeks, and was back to teaching by June. So the surgery had little to no effect on my lab skills, education and memory recall, and my course planning and writing skills throughout the time immediately following my operation.
I think you should be able to get assistance from the handicapped students services people, preventing that 3+ absences rule from impacting your grading and enrollment. You should be also able to do a lot of your writing requirements at home after all, and email them to the TA/Prof, right? And aren't these classes (their powerpoints, etc.) taped or otherwise provided as written/printable web-based and handout materials? Do you have a roommate you might be able to assist you somewhat?
In general, handicapped student services should view your situation as a unique opportunity. Academicians rarely seem to know that their relationships with students with epilepsy and who are post-op represent a historical step in providing people with epilepsy the same rights as other "disabled" students. The handicapped student services staff surely understand this. So get their assistance as soon as possible, and even have them contact me if necessary.
Generally speaking, the operation should impact your reading and writing skills very little. So it might be interesting for you, as a journalist, to try to write about different things in different ways, and then repeat the same writing projects (adding new ideas and such if you want), one and two months post-op. The purpose of this would be to learn if as recovery takes place, your writing content, vocabulary, phraseology or style undergoes any changes and growth. (And it will!)
I found that after surgery, my left-brained thinking reduced somewhat, and my creativity increased. My use of photographic memory, of imagery-related information processing and overall essay/book chapter planning improved. As a result, my ability to be more expressive in my writing style increased, making my writing (and teaching) style more useful during the upcoming years. This surgery can certainly make you more productive as a writer.
I had my surgery (an anteromesial left temporal lebectomy) on Dec 20, 1988. I was out of the hospital on December 31st. I was at Powell's books in Portland, Oregon, on January 2nd, purchasing books for my production of a display at the local museum. That display was completed in about a week, and was open to public view one week later.
This type of neurosurgery really doesn't do much to modify your ability to learn or recall, although some memories or cognitive associations seem to have to "click" back in place over the next few days or weeks. For me, it took more work to get some of my mid-college level math skills back than to do chemistry lab related work. And some of my language/writing skills seemed to be slowed down a little (most vocabulary and finding the right words--I especially had a problem with proper names that soundor spell alike.) [However, it is important to realize, that as a male, I possibly have more left cerebral dominance than you making me slightly slower at recovering left hemispheric skills post-op since I had a left lobe operation. For you, a right hemisphere resection might have little to no effect on your writing depending on your neurosurgery test outcomes, and a left lobectomy only a minimal impact.]
After the operation, I began my career as an adjunct professor in chemistry for nearly 20 years and a writer for trade magazines and some science and history journals. Following the operation, I went back to my chemistry lab on campus in late February, wrote up my new course plans over the next few weeks, and was back to teaching by June. So the surgery had little to no effect on my lab skills, education and memory recall, and my course planning and writing skills throughout the time immediately following my operation.
I think you should be able to get assistance from the handicapped students services people, preventing that 3+ absences rule from impacting your grading and enrollment. You should be also able to do a lot of your writing requirements at home after all, and email them to the TA/Prof, right? And aren't these classes (their powerpoints, etc.) taped or otherwise provided as written/printable web-based and handout materials? Do you have a roommate you might be able to assist you somewhat?
In general, handicapped student services should view your situation as a unique opportunity. Academicians rarely seem to know that their relationships with students with epilepsy and who are post-op represent a historical step in providing people with epilepsy the same rights as other "disabled" students. The handicapped student services staff surely understand this. So get their assistance as soon as possible, and even have them contact me if necessary.
Generally speaking, the operation should impact your reading and writing skills very little. So it might be interesting for you, as a journalist, to try to write about different things in different ways, and then repeat the same writing projects (adding new ideas and such if you want), one and two months post-op. The purpose of this would be to learn if as recovery takes place, your writing content, vocabulary, phraseology or style undergoes any changes and growth. (And it will!)
I found that after surgery, my left-brained thinking reduced somewhat, and my creativity increased. My use of photographic memory, of imagery-related information processing and overall essay/book chapter planning improved. As a result, my ability to be more expressive in my writing style increased, making my writing (and teaching) style more useful during the upcoming years. This surgery can certainly make you more productive as a writer.
Re: Missing school for surgery
Submitted by Angie87 on Tue, 2008-09-02 - 10:17
Kazza,
You can do it, stay strong. My surgeon told me that there are more risks living with the seizures than going through with the surgery. i wish i could go to New Zealand fo rmy surgery, then I wouldn't have to worry about all this money stuff. Don't worry, I'm scared to death but at the same time i'm excited. I can't wait to get it over with and not have to worry about seizures and be able to drive again. I lucked out in that I only have partial seizures but still, everything will be ok. Hang in there.
Kazza,
You can do it, stay strong. My surgeon told me that there are more risks living with the seizures than going through with the surgery. i wish i could go to New Zealand fo rmy surgery, then I wouldn't have to worry about all this money stuff. Don't worry, I'm scared to death but at the same time i'm excited. I can't wait to get it over with and not have to worry about seizures and be able to drive again. I lucked out in that I only have partial seizures but still, everything will be ok. Hang in there.