Everybody,
I am looking for a little reassurance about my daughter. She’s had three craniotomies. She also easily frustrated, very impulsive, very specific about clothes she will wear or food she will eat. She struggles with homework, problem-solving and fatigue.
I have seen several others, who may have other deficits but not emotional ones like this.
Anybody??
Hi Tina. I know you are worried but she sounds like she still is recovering from her last surgery. Wasn’t it just in August? It takes forever for the swelling in the brain to go down. I would call her doctor just in case.
I also get very easily frustrated and angry about little things and any change to my schedule or routine can take me days and days to recover. I started back to school recently and it is really kicking my butt. I am also impulsive at times, so your daughter isn’t alone with these feelings. I have noticed I’ve gotten better now that it’s been over a year since my craniotomy, but I get migraines with auras and things get a bit worse before the migraines. Just hang in there, 3 craniotomies has got to be majorly stressful for the brain to re-acclimate to and for your daughter!
Hi: I understand your fears. I was a kid when I had a craniotomy, and that was 52 years ago. I am still emotionally labile (as doctors sometimes call a person who cries) and I used to get very frustrated over a lot of things. Of course, I am wiser and older, but still am stubborn and think I am always right, I have some odd cognitive problems, and never went to college, nor did very well in school. But I became a paralegal for a state attorney general’s office and did very well. The AVM left me blind to the left in both eyes. Despite all that, I am sometimes proud of myself. Try not to worry about the outcomes, as they can get better with time.
beans
HI!
I agree with Barbara shes in recovery rmemeber is not easy those kind of surgery’s. It took me almost six months to recovery from my surgery. Im still get frustrated anxious…But talk to her doctor just to see if he recommended a therapy with a psychology. An Believed me family is always important to us you guys are the gives the strength to continue with this Journey. Have faith and be strong my friend to help you daughter and always be positive…GOod luck and God bless.
Hi Tina,
I’ve dealt with anxiety, fatigue, struggles with problem-solving, and things as seemingly simple as decision making. I attend college part-time, at times I felt as though I had to work twice as hard to keep my GPA at a B level. Like Nicole, I felt as though I have made some improvements about ten months after my surgery. I hope this helps in some way.
I wish the best for you and your daughter. Hugs.
Thanks, everybody, for the comments. It does help. Now if we can get the neurosurgeons to stay out of her head for a few years, she might actually get a real chance to heal and see what she’s capable of doing.
My Sadie is extremely impulsive and gets frustrated when she can’t remember how to do things or if there is a word she wants to say but can’t think of what the word is. She discovered recently that her math skills are gone so she has been doing tutoring in home as well as tutoring with her teachers at school. We are def seeing an improvement with the tutoring and her counselors help her learn coping skills. The Impulsivity, anger, and agression is a big struggle for us right now too. The fatigue is very hard on Sadie to and she will sleep from 3:00 in the afternoon until 5:30 am goes to school and sleeps. I’ve never seen fatigue so bad and she is truely exhausted I can see it on her face.
My Sadie is extremely impulsive and gets frustrated when she can’t remember how to do things or if there is a word she wants to say but can’t think of what the word is. She discovered recently that her math skills are gone so she has been doing tutoring in home as well as tutoring with her teachers at school. We are def seeing an improvement with the tutoring and her counselors help her learn coping skills. The Impulsivity, anger, and agression is a big struggle for us right now too. The fatigue is very hard on Sadie to and she will sleep from 3:00 in the afternoon until 5:30 am goes to school and sleeps. I’ve never seen fatigue so bad and she is truely exhausted I can see it on her face.
Hi
I was just reading your post and wanted to get some insight. My daughter has an occipital AVM and is scheduled for
Resection in late June. Her biggest risk is losing all peripheral vision to the left in both eyes. Would you mind sharing your experience and how the adjustment to your visual field loss was for you?
Thanks
Lollie
Hello, that's some brave little girl you've got.
I haven't read yr story but yr daughter sounds like me and I'm a grown up.
Apparently.
I agree with the others that it is early days but brain surgery is a massive procedure to go through.
Young kids will adapt though, as oldies who have been through this have to. Try not to worry.
What you describe sounds to me exactly like what I have experienced after my surgery and what I have read about other people's experiences. In fact, it's one of the [many] reasons I even joined this site. I'm very easily frustrated, very impulsive vocally (not easy to be impulsive physically with a left-sided deficit) and I found through this site that those are signs of a person recovering from brain surgery. I love to read so I got a Kindle Fire because it's easier to read on that with one usable hand than it is to read a book (I read old English literature so the books are usually REALLY fat). My 4 year old loves it so I'm constantly downloading games for him....memory games, strategy games, puzzles. I play them when he's asleep LOL but I found that they actually help me with my memory. Sometimes I get frustrated (like with Angry Birds because some levels just really irritate me) but it's a good way to get my mind used to working again. Maybe you're daughter would be interested in something like that to help her with learning how to use her mind again. A lot of the games like that are free, too; the Kindle Fire is cheaper than an iPad but it's just as good, in my opinion.