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RTL Epilepsy Resection ambidextrous making things difficult

Sat, 02/20/2016 - 00:59

I am 48 years old and was diagnosed with temporal lobe epilepsy when I was 21.  I have complex partial seizures that are not under control.  Seizures are deja' vu feeling and then extreme confusion and some level of conscious loss that lasts up to 3 or 4 minutes.  I've taken probably 10 different types of AED's and cocktails with no consistent luck.  I've been plagued with side affects from meds.  Since I live in Montana, there are very few Neurologists and I'm finally catching up to the possibility of having epilepsy surgery in Salt Lake City.  (University of Utah)  I've had a VEEG, MRI, fMRI, PET, Neuropsych test, and the WADA is scheduled for this Monday.  At first the doctors seemed convinced that right temporal lobectomy would be extremely successful but after the Neuropsych test, a whole lot of confusion began.  It seems that my left temporal lobe has significant verbal memory deficit which is the opposite side of the brain.  The doctors are confused and so am I.  I happen to be very ambidextrous which is also making the doctors nervous.  According to the fMRI, my left side is dominant and contains "most" of my language function.  However my seizures affect my speech with slurred speech for a few hours afterwords.  I'm wandering if anybody out there is ambidextrous (both handed) and had the surgery.

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