I have some good news for everyone. It has been about a half of a week since I came home from the hospital after having brain surgery to cure my epilepsy. I have been feeling a lot better. When I first came out I would throw up no matter what I tried to eat. Now I can eat small meals and as long as Im careful of what I eat I haven't had many problems. A lot of my friends and family have been coming to visit me which has helped me feel a lot better. Today I was also able to get up and play my guitar for a while for the first time since the surgery. I'm still having issues of only being able to eat small ammounts of only certain kinds of food and I have issues with having to sleep a lot as a side effect of the meds they have me on for after the surgery. But for the most part Im just staring to feel a lot better. I will keep you up to date as things change more.

Thanx all of you for showing support for me
Ethan

way to go... Hope all continues to go well...

yolo and Jerry

Ethan,
Thanks for keeping us all up to date on how your doing. I am really curious of how everything is going for you with me getting ready to have the surgery here very shortly and still wondering what to expect so please keep telling us how you are doing!
:)

Glad to hear you are doing better! :bouncing:

WOOOOOOOOO HOOOOOOOOOOO WTO ETHAN!! I am so glad you are doing so well!
Bet

Glad to hear that things are improving for you, Ethan. Have you tried eating salads yet? They tasted amazingly good after I had my operation. Is the skin on your head feeling numb? Mine did. It gave me a good reason to tell a lot of jokes about my being a true numbskull. Before the operation, I had asked the surgeon to save anything he was removing from my brain in case I needed to give someone a piece of my mind. He didn't do it but I got the nurse to give me the staples when she removed them. You've got a lot of healing to do but it will gradually get better and easier for you. Keep us informed on your progress.

Ethan,

Hope things have still been going well for you, fill us in again, when you can!

Did you have much swelling at all?

Vicki

Moonrunner,

We used the same joke with Katie's surgery! Hahaha!!! We told the neurosurgeon that there were a few people that Katie would like to give a piece of her mind to! Wonder if that goes with the territory?

Also, the saying, "well it's not like brain surgery" has a whole new meaning for us! I catch myself saying it every so often, and it makes me stop and think. Katie says that her brain surgery was easier than a lot of the stuff she use to go through with peers, before her surgery.

I think one of the more interesting things was seeing Katie's MRI that they did an hour after her surgery. Seeing the "void" that is there now. The neurosurgeon said they wanted to be sure they got everything...and we said, "We sure hope so! We don't plan on doing this again any time soon!"

You do have to keep things light, when you can. It is a very serious decision to make. One of the last things that I said to Katie before they rolled her off to surgery was, "I love you a million swedish fish" and in her loopey drugged voice she said "I love you a million red M&M's"...not missing a beat! It's from the movie "What a Girl Wants", one of our favorite chick flicks, a mother/daughter exchange.

Vicki

Hey Vicki
I have a question for you in particular. How long did Katie have difficulties for after the surgery. It is a little less than a month after the surgery and I still go through small phases of feeling a headache in the spot where they removed part of my brain. Most of all I feel extremely hot whenever I try to go to bed. It is getting really annoying because I having difficulty controling my sleep schedual as a result of it.

I still also have to stay non-active for a while, the doctor wants me to wait longer for my spinal fluids to build up again. Other than that Im off all the post-surgery drugs, my headache has died down quite a bit and Im feeling a lot better.

Thanx All
Ethan

Hi Ethan,

Happy to hear things are going fairly well!

Katie had less and less headaches as time went on. Around the 4-6 week range they were far and few between. They went from being the "please be quiet, I can't stand all of the noise" to being able to watch tv and listen to music quietly without it bothering her. The headches totally subsided shortly after that. Katie was inactive for about 7-8 weeks. She was able to go out for walks (light exercise) around the end of July and surgery was June 7th.

As far as the feeling hot when you got to bed, I would guess that is more your body trying to regulate itself and the spinal fluid still working through it's thing. Has this been going on just since you've been home? Or was it going on in the hospital too? Are you seeing the neurosurgeon weekly yet? I would mention it and see what they have to say. Because I'm not sure where your surgery was exactly...possibly areas the surgery was near could still be irritated and a little swollen and affecting something.

MOST IMPORTANTLY>>> ANY SEIZURES OR AURAS???

Take care...and try to be patient...are you still playing your guitar? Great therapy!!!

Vicki

Hi Ethan,

Happy to hear things are going fairly well!

Katie had less and less headaches as time went on. Around the 4-6 week range they were far and few between. They went from being the "please be quiet, I can't stand all of the noise" to being able to watch tv and listen to music quietly without it bothering her. The headches totally subsided shortly after that. Katie was inactive for about 7-8 weeks. She was able to go out for walks (light exercise) around the end of July and surgery was June 7th.

As far as the feeling hot when you got to bed, I would guess that is more your body trying to regulate itself and the spinal fluid still working through it's thing. Has this been going on just since you've been home? Or was it going on in the hospital too? Are you seeing the neurosurgeon weekly yet? I would mention it and see what they have to say. Because I'm not sure where your surgery was exactly...possibly areas the surgery was near could still be irritated and a little swollen and affecting something.

MOST IMPORTANTLY>>> ANY SEIZURES OR AURAS???

Take care...and try to be patient...are you still playing your guitar? Great therapy!!!

Vicki


Hello There
I want to let you know I have been playing my guitar. I love it just as much as I always have. I broke string on it today :( while playing a song by Neil Young (who by the way I found out is a fellow epileptic). My headache has mostly died. It sometimes comes back lightly, such as when I hit my head on the sealing of my dad's car while trying to get into it. I have the first post surgery appointment with my neurosurgeon next tuesday and then an appointment with myneulogist the tuesday after that. I started feeling host at night when they put me on painkillers in the hospital. I don't feel it as much but even though Im off pain killers I still feel it at night quite a bit. This has also thrown off my sleep schedual beyone all belief. I now sleep during the exact opposite hours as all may friends and regular people do. My surgery was at Brigham & Woman's Hospital in Boston. I still have problems with loud noise. I tried hanging out in the city for a day with some friends recently, BAD IDEA!!! Halfway through it I became so hot I had to go home. On a positive note I have not had a beitite mall, grand mall, seizure or light headed feeling since the surgery. When I first advised not to drink or do anything like that cause of the epilepsy I decided not to cause of the horror stories I heard (even though some of them were debatable to be true or not). However I have decided to continue not to drink or do anything like that.

Ill keep everyone updated
Sincerely
Ethan