Brain Damage?

After my AVM bled, they did a number of cognitive tests in the hospital, and they said there were no deficits. But, since my surgery, I find myself often mixing up things, especially days of the week, dates and times…which is one of the things they were specifically looking for after the surgery cause of the part of the brain where the AVM was found. I can’t tell my left from my right without looking at my hands ( I never really could that well, but now I can’t at all) I also often forget things, and I have a little trouble with word retrieval. I often find myself pausing to grasp the word I need to say.
None of these things are very severe or seriously impact my day-to-day functioning…they are just very annoying. Many people around me say they don’t even notice.
But anyway, my question is, Can anything be done to fix this? Are there neurological exercises that would repair whatever pathways/neurons were damaged when the AVM bled? Or is this just something I have to deal with forever?

I’m not an expert, but I do know that the brain has a remarkable ability to create detours when normal pathways are compromised.

So I think that some sort of mental excerise would help… just not sure what that would be for the examples you cite. Still, I think it might be a bit like the old typing excersizes we did back in the day… the more you practice, the more rote the action becomes.

After my daughter’s bleed we didn’t see any impacts to her cognition, but we were cautioned to be looking for problems with emotional control, organizational skills, concentration, etc. As with most symptoms after a bleed, I’d say that time might bring improvements. The game “Brain Age” might be helpful. We have it for our handheld game (Nintendo DS, I believe) and it has exercises that supposedly train your brain to work faster. I actually think it works. You may also be more conscious of the occasional inability to retrieve a word - this happens to everyone!

Mary Kate,
Did you have any therapy after your bleed/craniotomy? My husband had similar problems but really did much better after his therapy and really continues to heal now, 18 months later. According to his OT and speech therapist, the “info” is still there, the brain just needs to “find the file” that it is in now and “reroute” that info, if this makes sense. Also do you have any seizures? He had a time after surgery trying to get a med that worked for him without making him “zoned out” but also controlled the seizures. I would definitly notice after a GM seizure he seemed to take one step back as far as memory and functions, and the longer time between them he was more himself. He really is doing well now and is hooked on Sudoku, works a couple puzzles every night as therapy for himself. I hope things get better for you soon.
Blessings!
Marie

I had no therapy…they said there were no deficits/therefore no need for therapy. I alos never knew I had a seizure. Thanks for the info and input. Good Luck to your husband!

Marie Hudson said:

Mary Kate,
Did you have any therapy after your bleed/craniotomy? My husband had similar problems but really did much better after his therapy and really continues to heal now, 18 months later. According to his OT and speech therapist, the “info” is still there, the brain just needs to “find the file” that it is in now and “reroute” that info, if this makes sense. Also do you have any seizures? He had a time after surgery trying to get a med that worked for him without making him “zoned out” but also controlled the seizures. I would definitly notice after a GM seizure he seemed to take one step back as far as memory and functions, and the longer time between them he was more himself. He really is doing well now and is hooked on Sudoku, works a couple puzzles every night as therapy for himself. I hope things get better for you soon.
Blessings!
Marie