Keep your chin up Deb. I've had 8 hour surgery and radiation (Gamma Knife).
Hair loss due to radiation, and memory loss, mostly short-term. I have to write
things down. Not a bad timeframe to give yourself a couple of years. Trisha
mentioned some great resources, use them!

Give yourself a big hug. You've made it through so much. You're fortunate if
you have family member support, although often, they have no idea what we are
going through. Very frustrating. I'm so pleased you've found this list to come
too. Trisha is wonderful.

I needed a thesaurus, got tongue tied more often than not the first 3 mos after
surgery. Cognitive comes back differently for each patient. Also, make sure
you get 6 month MRI's!!

Best wishes for a positive recovery,

Kim Chrane~ium




-------Original Message-------
From: Trisha4080@...
Sent: 09/04/03 09:21 AM
To: BrainSurgery@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [brain tumor] Re: Hair loss/memory loss

>
>
<< In a message dated 9/3/2003 10:56:32 PM Eastern Daylight Time,
dcacase54@... writes:

> Hi, I was wondering if anyone has had some hair loss
> weeks after their surgery? Also, I'm experiencing
> short term memory loss. I had a parasagittal menigioma
> removed June 24 this year. It was an 8 hour surgery
> and I'm wondering if all that anesthesia could have
> contributed to my symptoms. Please write back if you
> have anything similiar. Yhanks, Deb >>

hi -- I have a couple of things to mention that may put your mind at
ease...
first, it could be medication causing your hair loss. You didn't mention
if
you are or were on steroids since your surgery. In addition to chemo and

radiation, many medications, steroids being one of them, can cause hair
loss.

As to your short term memory loss, one thing that helped me understand and

feel better was learning to realize that it takes a long time to heal from
brain
surgery. It doesn't heal like a fractured bone. The symptoms (memory
loss,
etc) very gradually diminished over the first TWO YEARS after my surgery.
I
had been told that this would be the case by others before me and it
sounded
like forever. The time passed quickly and, although I still have more
difficulty with memory than I did before my surgery, it doesn't even
compare to the
difficulty I was having for the first six to 12 months.

Hang in there and learn some techniques to help - here's what I did:

I wrote everything down and kept a pencil and paper with me at all times.

Sometimes, if I was trying to remember something I found that if I said it
out
loud to myself, I had a little more time to remember it so I'd have time
to
write it down (!). My Mom bought me a hand held tape recorder so I could
dictate
reminders and thoughts to myself (questions to ask the doctor, things to
do,
etc.) If you can afford it, a Palm Pilot is also a great help. I was
fortunate to have been able to see a neuropsychologist (Dr. Robert Stern
in
Providence, RI) for an evaluation - this was wonderful because he
identified problem
areas for me and suggested many compensatory techniques to overcome the
difficulties (like memory loss and difficulty concentration) I was having.
I highly
recommend seeing a neuropsychologist for 3 reasons: (1) to help you
identify
the actual difficulties your brain is having, (2) to receive expert advice
as
to how to "retrain" your brain to overcome those specific difficulties and
(3)
to be able to recognize your improvement when you have the testing
repeated at
a later date.

There are many posts on the subjects of memory loss and other symptoms
experienced after surgery at the group website if you want to read about
others
experiences with this. The link is:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrainSurgery

My favorite mental exercises were: computer games (solitaire, freecell),
logic games, puzzles. I could track my growth by the speed/success of my
games.
I think it really helped.

It's so frustrating in the beginning because it seems like things are
moving
so slowly. Just be patient with yourself, lower your expectations until
you've had time to heal and then re-evaluate. One thing I wish I'd done
is to keep
a diary of my status so after time had passed I could clearly see my
improvements. I know I've improved but the first six months or so after
surgery are a
bit foggy in my memory, at least for details.

Here I am, four years after surgery (I can't believe it) and although I
take
more time to process information and I need to utilize tools (the Outlook
program is my savior) to help me remember appointments and tasks, I am
actually
keeping it pretty much together. Online banking has finally solved my
problems
with getting organized in my finances and paying bills on time. That had
been
a very difficult problem for me.

Good news: I am happier than ever, have grown to appreciate even the
smallest things and love each day for what it brings -- things I was never
very good
at before. It's like a rebirth... be patient with yourself and watch
yourself
grow. Stay in touch with us!

Take care of yourself,
Patricia (Fields) Williams, R.N. (I got married!)
List Moderator
5cm left frontal/temporal/parietal meningioma removed May 1999



***IF YOU HAVE NOT ALREADY DONE SO, STOP BY AND COMPLETE THE PATIENT CARE
QUESTIONNAIRE CONTAINED IN MESSAGE NUMBER 429***

Community email addresses:
Post message: BrainSurgery@...
Subscribe: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BrainSurgery
Unsubscribe: Trisha4080@...
List owner: Trisha4080@...

Shortcut URL to this page:
http://www.egroups.com/community/BrainSurgery

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/


>