pain issues after surgery

Hello Mary, Your not going to be yourself for a while. I had my Right Temporal Lobectomy 10/12/06. I had the surgery on a Thursday and went home Saturday morning. For the first week home my husband wouldn't go to work so that he could keep an eye on me. I wasn't going anywhere for the first week anyways. I was on the couch with ice packs around my neck and on my forehead. Then the next week I started getting more restless and he was back to work. I stopped taking the pain Medication a week after I got home from the hospital because it caused me to halucinate. So after that all I took for pain was advil. I have been extremely lucky with my jaw. I have no problems at all, just that I can't open wide enought to eat a SUBWAY sandwich. hehe. Where the incision is I don't have a lot of problems with either except when I put on my glasses in the Laboratory. I work in a Medical Research Laboratory. I was really lucky with the depression issue. I have so many friends that came over and brought us meals and I have a great company that I work for and they let me come back to work as soon as I got the ok from my doctor. I was back driving 2wks after the surgery and have been working full time for over a month now. The things your asking are different depending on the individual person. Some people would stay on the couch for 3months and love it. You sound like you are more like me, but take it easy and don't rush things. Like my surgeon told me with my 1 month check-up, "Cathy, your incision looks absolutely great, you look super, BUT remember you are still healing inside. Too much activity could cause bleeding in there and it isn't worth risking." So I listened to him and now I am doing extremely great. Actually, I have been asked by the Epilepsy Foundation Association to join them in Washington D.C. as a representative for Maine in the "Public Policy Institute Advocacy Conference" I am so excited about being part of it. Hope this has helped you. Things will only get better for you. But don't expect it to happen over night and take it easy. Good Luck, Cathy

I had two surgeries the first was on Monday, They put wires on my brain to see exactly were my seizures were coming from. They did know that it was coming from my left temporal lobe but wanted to pin it down even closer. My second surgery was on that Friday, that’s when they removed the damaged part of the brain that was causing my seizures. I had a real bad headache after my first surgery, and after the second for about 3 weeks, but I still am so glad that I did it because I have been seizure free. The headache was from them having to open the skull. It is like having a broken bone. The brain in itself does not feel pain. If I was you take is easy. You won’t be able to do a lot of things, just remember you had a major sugary and it’s like a shock to your brain and body, and that shock is why you feel the depression. It is your body’s reaction to all that you have been through. It happens with most surgeries. Just know what it is and don’t let it get you. Rise above it and know the end result of all this is wonderful. I wasn’t able to do anything for about a month and a half. It may be different for you, but if I was you just take it easy and take one day at a time. Hope this helps,