I am getting ready for the "seizure surgery", a left temporal lobectomy. I would love to hear from all who have had this surgery.

I was diagnosed with seizures at age 40. I have complex and simple partial seizures. I have tried almost EVERY medicine available but nothing works. I’m on tegretol now, but I am worried about the long-term effects on my body and bones.

Hi Diana & welcome,

I don't have a lot of time to type something long, but our daughter just had E surgery on June 7th of this year. She is 16 and went through a year of testing to get the recommendation. She was diagnosed at 9 months of age and has been on 7 different meds over those years, and combos of the meds.
Katie has Complex Partial seizures and has been seizure free since surgery. She is currently coming off of one med, Keppra (YAH!), and is also on Lamictal. She had a Left Temporal Lobectomy/Hippocamectomy and was diagnosed with Mesial Temporal Sclerosis.

This is the quickest way to read all of my posts since Feb. 2003.

Click on my id, TKDMOM96. A little window will come up and it will show 3 different choices. Click on the one that says "all posts by this member". You can read all of the posts I have made over the last year. Look at the thread titles regarding surgery, good news, doctor appointments etc. You may also want to read the thread "EPILEPTOLOGIST: PLEASE HELP find a board member..." (this is my original post and discusses the start of our journey with Katie).

If after reading all of this stuff (ALOT of it) and you have any specific questions, please post and Katie and I will respond.

All my best,
Vicki

Thank you for responding to me question. I am having a WADA test next week. That is the last test before I am referred to a neurosurgeon. [ removed ]
Diana

Hi Diana,

You're welcome. Hopefully some of the posts I made helped clarify some questions for you. You must have read the post with the WADA test. That was a very interesting test. That will be a BIG indicator as to whether or not you will be a good surgical candidate.

May I ask where you are having your WADA test and where the surgery may take place? I'm curious.

If you need anything else, don't hesitate to post and I'll reply as soon as I'm able. If I don't talk to you before, good luck with your WADA test.

And here's to hoping for good info!

Vicki

My WADA test is Nov 5 at Loma Linda University Hospital. I do not know when my surgery will be. That will be determined later.

I did not see the post about the WADA test. I will have to look more it more closely.

Were there are side effects from the test??

Hi Diana,

Katie had no side affects from the WADA test. She is young and her arteries were in excellent shape. The only thing I have heard from adults who had the WADA test was if there was a blockage in either of the corotid arteries, it adds an extra element to the procedure. Some docs will unblock and move forward, others will not.

Have they discussed this with you? I assume you have a pre-op appt. coming up soon with the WADA set for Nov. 5th.

Let me know if you found the post regarding the WADA test. If not, I can answer any questions you may have. We were kept apprised of the whole procedure by one of our neuro nurses who came in and out of the procedure room. Katie even had messages for us during it. The neuropsych doc was able to tell us right away where Katie's language and memory were, which for Katie's case was very important. Looked as though seizures were originating left. Left side is language center. Found out that because katie started seizing so young, her memory and language centers moved to the right side!
That is why this test will be important. They were able to do do surgery without interfering with eloquent areas of the brain.

If things have not moved, they will more than likely need to have you awake during surgery so you are able to indicate certain things for them or they will be able to electronically test your brain while you are awake. I know it sounds odd, but the brain "feels" no pain, so there is no discomfort involved.

Vicki

I had my WADA test on Friday, Nov 5. I was able to remember words and shapes on both sides of my brain, but I was not able to remember objects when my left side was put to sleep.

What a strange experience.

Has anyone else had a WADA test??