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should i have surgery?

Wed, 02/02/2005 - 16:08
could someone please tell me what experiences they had when they had surgery for epilepsy? i'm debating it once again, am scared to death of the thought of surgery and i don't know if it is worth it. pleasesend comments on whether or not you were glad you had the surgery, what your results were, were you disappointed, would you do it again? i have only heard stories from successful cases and not from patients who were sorry they had the surgery, or even became worse in some way after they had the surgery and were sorry they went under the knife.PLEASE ADVISE. thank you, Alexa

Comments

RE: should i have surgery?

Submitted by michaelow on Wed, 2005-02-16 - 01:10

hI Alexa my name is Michael and I haven't been online for a month due to a virus in my computer. I had brain surgery in 1999 and have remained seizure free since then ; I posted my story under the title "BRAIN SURGERY ", so if you haven't looked at the postings on this site please do so. In regards to surgery everything depends on where and what in the brain is causing the seizures. IN my case I had a scar tissue on the right temporal lobe caused by a high fever when I was a baby. I had my epilepsy for 52 of my 57 years and looked foreward to the surgery, After I spent a month in the epilepsy unit in London Ontario here in Canada being monitored around the clock it was decided that I could be helped by surgery.I was told by my neurologist that I did not have to see him again until 2008 unless I had a problem, so far everything has been fine.My email is,lapainmo@3web.net , and if you would like to contact me with any questions feel free to do so.

                                                                                          Sincerely Yours.

                                                                                           Michael Lapain

hI Alexa my name is Michael and I haven't been online for a month due to a virus in my computer. I had brain surgery in 1999 and have remained seizure free since then ; I posted my story under the title "BRAIN SURGERY ", so if you haven't looked at the postings on this site please do so. In regards to surgery everything depends on where and what in the brain is causing the seizures. IN my case I had a scar tissue on the right temporal lobe caused by a high fever when I was a baby. I had my epilepsy for 52 of my 57 years and looked foreward to the surgery, After I spent a month in the epilepsy unit in London Ontario here in Canada being monitored around the clock it was decided that I could be helped by surgery.I was told by my neurologist that I did not have to see him again until 2008 unless I had a problem, so far everything has been fine.My email is,lapainmo@3web.net , and if you would like to contact me with any questions feel free to do so.

                                                                                          Sincerely Yours.

                                                                                           Michael Lapain

RE: RE: should i have surgery?

Submitted by welby on Sun, 2005-04-24 - 07:54
Hi from Canada,I had surgery in 1987 in Edmonton, Alberta and that was when surgery first came out for epilepsy it very new in Canada. It was well worth it. I had 10 years medication free and no seizures. I now get what they call break through seizures and I take tri-leptal, it is very minor compared to what I had. The surgery created a new life for me. My advice to you go for it. It has improved so many things in my life. I was pretty much out of it for one month but one month was an easy sacrifice for 10 years of freedom from epilepsy. The surgeries have improved so much now too so it probably isn't as major as it was in 1987. When I had mine done they didn't even have such a thing as a cat scan so that itself helps the surgeons out a great deal. Good Luck from CanadaCheryl

Re: RE: RE: should i have surgery?

Submitted by Just 4 You on Fri, 2009-01-02 - 05:22

Maybe that's when Surgery for Epilepsy first started in Edmonton, but it was originally started in Montreal back in the 70's.  I have a CBC Video of a show called "The Medicine Show" showing a patient in Montreal having it done, saying "This is no longer Roger the Musician and Epileptic, this is Roger the Musician." Back then, they didn't have lasers to cut through the skull... they drilled lots of holes in a row, then used a wire saw to cut from one hole to another, leaving lots of tiny chips in the brain. But it worked. 

In 1986, I had my first surgery done in Vancouver BC where my Doctor was the well known Dr Juhn A Wada of the University of BC (inventor of the Wada test).  I remember... the Laser was Brand New, and they built an Operating Room with Extra Thick Walls, just in case! Lots of doctors from all across Canada and the USA came to see it cut through the skull like a Hot Knife slides through Butter! Slowly, more and more surgeons used what they learned and started using the laser in their hospital.

The 1986 surgery kept me seizure free for 13 years til 1999.  Then had it done again in 2003 and was estimated 10 - 15 years of no seizures.  I was told it's like a tooth-filling...lasts a long time, but eventually it'll need doing again.

Just 4 You, Victoria, BC  

Maybe that's when Surgery for Epilepsy first started in Edmonton, but it was originally started in Montreal back in the 70's.  I have a CBC Video of a show called "The Medicine Show" showing a patient in Montreal having it done, saying "This is no longer Roger the Musician and Epileptic, this is Roger the Musician." Back then, they didn't have lasers to cut through the skull... they drilled lots of holes in a row, then used a wire saw to cut from one hole to another, leaving lots of tiny chips in the brain. But it worked. 

In 1986, I had my first surgery done in Vancouver BC where my Doctor was the well known Dr Juhn A Wada of the University of BC (inventor of the Wada test).  I remember... the Laser was Brand New, and they built an Operating Room with Extra Thick Walls, just in case! Lots of doctors from all across Canada and the USA came to see it cut through the skull like a Hot Knife slides through Butter! Slowly, more and more surgeons used what they learned and started using the laser in their hospital.

The 1986 surgery kept me seizure free for 13 years til 1999.  Then had it done again in 2003 and was estimated 10 - 15 years of no seizures.  I was told it's like a tooth-filling...lasts a long time, but eventually it'll need doing again.

Just 4 You, Victoria, BC  

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