10 year surgery anniversary

[Matt A]

Holy Cow.
On April 18 I will celebrate the 10th aniversary of my rtl. How could it be possible?

Life has been pretty good except for I no longer have any short term memory. It's strange how time becomes meaningless without a short term memory. An hour, a day, a month, a year, they are all the same when you don't remember what you did 5 minutes ago. I finished up a year of therapy this past winter, therapy to help me deal and live with the loss in everyday life. Pretty much daily planners, sticky notes and log books.

Anyhoo, I plan on shaving my head on the 18th to see my scar, it's been 10 years after all. Wifey sez "No you're not!" but it's my head so we'll see who wins that one.

[Ging]

Matt , congrautlations on your 10 year anniversary coming up....could you please tell me what RTL is, I know it was in your head because of the head shaving and scar sentence, but I am not very good with the initials of condictions.
You sound like you are doing well and have found good coping skills ......kudos to you :) Have a wonderful day , ging

[Travis from MN]

Ging, usually RTL is in reference to Right Temporal Lobe

Matt, I know I have my surgery date on the calendar from back when I was 5. I now have no problem remembering the one they did last month...Valentines Day!! That day will mean a HECK of a lot more to me now.

--Travis

[jingle]

Congratulations Matt .........
10 years!! 10 years without a seizure..... wow.
Here;s wishing you 100 more

[Porkette]

Hi Matt,

Congrates! I had RTL surgery done 18 yrs. ago and it helped reduce my sz. but just like you I have had short term memory loss. The one thing that helped
me a lot was doing word search puzzles, crossword puzzles, and brain teasers like how can 12+12=12 and all you do is add and they are all positive numbers.
Figure that one out it's so simple that it's hard. Here's wishing you only the best and May God Bless You!

Sue

[Rabbit]

Hi Matt, you knew I would have to eventually come out the woodwork to respond to this one!
I think I should say congratulations, but it does seem to have been a mixed blessing. It has now been 11 years since my husband's surgery, he has had some seizures and still takes enough medicine to choke a horse... but is not having the CPs at least.

DID YOU SHAVE YOUR HEAD????? that's the big question. I think my husband is just waiting for his hairline to recede enough to see his - no talk of shaving here!

All the best to you and Rita,

Rabbit

[Tattoo2]

Congrats on the 10 years Matt. Not sure why you have no short term memory. Maybe the side you had surgery on? I had a right ATL too and am right handed and memory was on the left. Congrats to all of us. It is now 13 for me. Can't believe it either! I was thinking this afternoon about what I have done in this time after surgery. I always did puzzles and still do. School helps jump start those areas that may have not been used as much due to being subdued by medicines, seizures and lack of access to all life may have to offer, etc. Rabbit, what meds is your husband still on and why so much? How long has it been? Mine were lowered immediately after to a level that should maintain seizure free status without it overloading me again or making me toxic and too under the influence of their dulling effects as was the case before surgery. About two yeas ago, my doc suggested I lower the one med I was on. I lowered it to the present dose of 1,000 mg of Keppra a day. I did the lowering and decided how to do it. She suggested that we lower it. That greatly lowered the auras I was having too. Down to none of those now. No CP since surgery. Too much meds do harm and can cause seizures as well. Just as a reminder especially for those newbies who visit and learn from our writings, they typically do not remove the entire temporal lobe in the typical epilepsy surgery. Also the area they need to remove is usually behind the temporal lobe as in the part of the hippocampus and amygdala. Removing the anterior/front portion of the temporal lobe allows passage back there. May we who have had surgery gain and maintain seizure free status or find the best quality of life we can. Just finished another semester and will start the next in a week. Four courses to go. Hope I make it this time. Sue, how does 12+12= 12? Tattoo

[Matt A]

Hi Matt, you knew I would have to eventually come out the woodwork to respond to this one!
I think I should say congratulations, but it does seem to have been a mixed blessing. It has now been 11 years since my husband's surgery, he has had some seizures and still takes enough medicine to choke a horse... but is not having the CPs at least.

DID YOU SHAVE YOUR HEAD????? that's the big question. I think my husband is just waiting for his hairline to recede enough to see his - no talk of shaving here!

All the best to you and Rita,

Rabbit

Well, today I had the guy who cuts my hair give me a "high and tight" military cut instead of shaving my whole head. It was a day late but I wanted to let him in on the fun, he's been cutting my hair for over 2½ decades and the appointment had been scheduled for 6 weeks.

No scar. Nothing. Not even a pencil line shadow of a scar. I have a nice dent in my skull where the bone was removed and replaced but scar? Nada. My question-mark has completely disappeared. Gone.

[Firehorse]

Congrats on the anniversary! Since you didn't say how you feel about the disappearance of the scar, I'll just say, "Whoa!!!" to that.
I can't imagine what it would be like to live without any short term memory. It must be difficult. I know I have a bad memory myself, but I can't say I have none at all. Sometimes my wife says its even selective...lol

Hope you have been doing well Matt. It's nice to see you drop in, have missed you and your humor around here.