Post Craniotomy what to expect long term

[ojan]

Hello, Everyone

I obviously am new to this. I had a craniotomy 11/11/07 for titanium clipping of an unruptured aneurysm. Since that time, I have had a lot of weird things going on that I don't know are abnormal/normal, temporary/permanent. That's why I was searching the web when I came across this.
Has anyone who has had this type of surgery had any of these problems?:
anxiety, depression, post traumatic stress disorder
indentation of or caving in of part of the skull
heart palpitations
What would you say is a full recovery?
When does the return of memory, concentration, energy happen?

[jess2002]

Hi there ojan
Well i have had to ops like yours one in 2002 one in jan 03 anxiety depression heart palpitations headaches dizzyness got it all but slowly it left i have 2 children post ops and i returned to work 31 mar 03 pregnant lol, memory mines come back now and its better than b4 i had the ruptured annie concentration ain't to bad but my memory when i 1st had it was rubbish couldn't remember what a plum looked like, it's different 4 everybody but to be fair u are still very early on your brain needs time to heal. Oh and about the indentation of your head my mom says mine still goes in more on the one side than the other its nothing to worry about. Anything else u need to know just ask. Jess

[ojan]

Thanks, Jess. I appreciate your input. Anyone else with any info...I would appreciate it.

[PeerQuaide]

Hi Ojan,

I had a craniotomy back in July 2007 and found that those first few months to be quite hard. I had what I could only describe as post-operation depression where everything that happened up to my surgery suddenly caught up with me... I only knew a few hours before my op that it was going to happen and then I didnt understand it fully until I got home a week later!! I still get some odd pains in my head from time to time but I just put this down to healing... after all it was a major op. I too have a little dent on my skull now where the did the operation but I am lucky that my hair grown back again faily quickly (weeks rather than months!).

My main problem at the moment is my short term memory and I try very hard to get over this problem by keeping pen and paper near should I need to take notes and I try and play word puzzles to make sure that my brain is active as much as it can be. I still dream of the day when I manage to read a book from cover to cover.. but again its a small price to pay.

My story can be found on the Colloid Cyst boards here on BrainTalk via http://brain.hastypastry.net/forums/showthread.php?t=22317

Hope this helps a little.... let me know if I can tell you anything more ;)

Peer.

[gem35]

My husband had a craniotomy 4 years ago, for a colloid cyst. No this past week he lost periphieal vision in his right eye. Do you know if colloid cysts can return?

[aehockey]

I had a clipping 11/28/07 and I too have an indintation on the side they went in. I have had a little depression. I do have lack of concintration, loss of energy and Sometimes when I say something I can't remember if I just said it, so I repeat myself alot. Hope this helps.

[tigerchef1969]

Hello, I had 4 crani's in Oct of 06, and well not to scare you, but I am still I guess recovering from Them. Where the surgeries actuauly were done I still expereinence a Numb feeling Long story short lol. also caused me to have epilespy. well either that or my accident. Ok I tire very easily, I am very irritable and moody, sometimes I think of very strange things that I know a normal person would not. also short term memory still is not all there.

I have spoken to my neurolgist about these things and she has said that this is normal considering the amount of trauma that my brain sustained during the accident and from the 4 ops. You know the song by toby keith (Not as good as I once was), well I feel it Lol. Not to mention I turn 40 next year:eek: Besides the indentation in my head and the major scars, and some people who look at me like I have 3 heads, Thats the small price I had to pay for a whole new outlook on life.

Hope this helps
Regards
Jeff

[Trudy]

I had a craniotomy for hemioblastoma (cerebellum) in 2000. I was 8 months pregnant at the time that I found out about it. I had emergency C section & 4 days later brain surgery. Short term memory took a while to come back. I had to have instructions repeated 2-3 times to understand & then write them down. Couldn't watch a movie; only reruns on TV. I have been on 3 depression medicines. Now, lexapro--except I have gained 30+ pounds. Was always 116 lb.
Eight years later, I have H/A 3-4 times a week, plus neck pain. Sometimes I am telling a story & cannot remember a word and have to use another word. I think it has to do w/ the surgery. At times, I still have to have instructions repeated because I cannot even comprehend what is being said. I have more gratitude for each day, and try to look on the bright side of everything.

[gloria]

ojan,

I had a craniotomy in July 2005 for a skull tumor and the incision was supposed to be an inch or two, but due to a blood vessel that burst after they made the initial incision, they ended up making a 7 inch incision. My skull doesn't sink in, but there' s a small lump. It's still sensitive when I get my hair done, shampoo and I avoid sleeping on that side. I don't know it the discomfort I feel is nerves, but I assume it is.

The first few months after surgery I rode a roller coaster of emotions and like Trudy, I couldn't follow a movie plot. I also repeated myself. At the time I'd been prescribed oxycodone and oxycontin for the pain and was also on ativan. Once I stopped those meds, my pain diminished. So I don't know if you're still on pain meds, but stopping them really improved my pain and outlook. I'm weaning off ativan now.

Had problems three years before my surgery, but it's been restored and I don't have any memory deficits. Tapering down on ativan may have helped. Also, I was told post-traumatic stress is normal and I've experienced this coming off the ativan which I guess suppressed some of that.

Good luck with your recovery. and while I do have situational depression recently, the last two years I really felt like I'd been almost reborn because my thinking and memory came back so well and I had didn't have the emotional ups and downs.

Best wishes to all,
Gloria

[Vodpop]

I had a craniotomy in August 2002 to remove a tumor and a seizure focus. Here I am six years later, chronic headaches (which I take Topimax daily for and it helps quite a lot) very few seizures (hooray), was seizure free for the first two years now only have the occasional aura. My short term memory is terrible, but I guess that's a small price to pay. I have learned to write everything down, and repeat things to myself (so I look like I'm constantly talking to myself, lots of people do, right?), my husband is a great help and so are my two girls. Not only do I get lost in a movie, I get to watch the same one over and over again and it's like seeing it for the first time EVERY time.
Depression and Trauma are definitely something you have to watch out for. That and emotional control. That was one thing that I learned. I had a really hard time controlling myself emotionally after my surgery. I didn't feel depressed, but I found myself losing control of my emotions over absolutely nothing, so now I'm on an antidepressant to give me mood stabilization. Apparently when they remove 2/3 of the temporal lobe you lose a lot of your emotional control, it seems to be helping. I call them my happy pills, I don't lose my temper as much now or cry at the drop of a hat and not know why.
Try not to push yourself too fast. I think a lot of us are "overachievers" and tried to do too much too fast (go back to work too soon, take on the world etc). I should have given myself a lot longer to heal before I went back to work and not expected so much.

[vpass]

I had craniotomy in Jan 03 and have had occassional headaches. The first 2 years or so, I had ringing in my ears but have gone since.

Recently, I felt light-headed, with fast heart beat feeling like I was about to die, but CT scans showed nothing at the ER. They thought I may have had some anxiety issues. I think the stress of what I went thro' in 03 is still fresh in my head.

I have a big dent in my head, which curves in and out. It comes out clearly after I visit the barber and I spend hours in front of the mirror before leaving the house as I am uncomfortable with attracting people's attention.

[efd424]

hey ojan i had one in april/2007 for a ruptured aneurysmi too experienced depressionand i am still on celexafor it[it has helped!]my identation is still there- my surgeon says not to worry about itmy initial scar areais still tender my annie was coiled i still have fatigue problemd during the dayalong with motivational onesand concentration issues with work it is slowly coming backI KNOW ITS NEVER FAST ENOUGHPS TO ALL THOSE OUT THERECONSIDER A DIGITAL VOICE RECORDER FOR QUICK MENTAL NOTES AND REMINDERSgood luck mail me any time my real name is mike

[dawnmn]

Depression is common after brain surgery. If you are experience systoms you should talk to your doctor. Even anxiety after is also common.

[efd424]

i hear ya before my skull flap was reinstalled my right side of my head looked as though i had a flesh coloured water balloon strapped to it [from fluid build up that drew stares as i say "who cares we are on the right side of the turf! right?