Jobs that an AVM survivor does?

I began working one month after my craniotomy to remove the AVM in my occipital lobe.I work in the mortgage industry.
While the notion of beginning work after only one month of surgery seems noble as an afterthought, it was very trying the week I resumed work. I face a difficult commute, which means I leave my house very early each morning and get home late each night (I heard somewhere that DC traffic is the worst in the nation.) My job is also about remembering an immense amount of detail and operating at a very quick pace, so it was naturally hard for me to adapt to this temporarily retired lifestyle after only one month of leave. Due to the nature of my surgery and the location of the AVM in my occipital lobe,the vision center, I also faced another obstacle--dealing with a slight vision deficit. Areas of blindness in my peripheral vision prevented me from seeing a complete word without adjusting my head. For example, words like Parrot at first glance look like rrot. My sensitivity to light has also made it difficult to orient the placement of different things and I have more floaters in my vision. Significant sleep is a necessity to avoid feeling dizzy and disoriented.

My surgery was over a year ago and i'm working at the same company that walked with me as I underwent brain surgery. My body has adapted to these changes with relative ease. While my life has gone back to normal, the results of my surgery have left more of a emotional scar through facing such an obstacle then a physical one.

I went back to school full time a month and a half after my surgery, but while doing student teaching & full time school for master's in special ed, I currently do freelance web/graphic designing as well. :)

Hi Hiro, hows it going with your freelance work? Tough to do freelance. Ive dabbled at it, but its remarkably difficult to bring customers.

Well done mattramzzz for your hard work, same with everyone else. Keep on posting if u havent done so before, or any updates.

Myself, im thinking of applying for care giver maybe

hi there, since I had my avm diagnosed after a bleed aged18 I have done mostly clerical work. I returned to my first job as a medical secretary and managed to cope with this for a few years but found shorthand a problem. I then studied for a while but needed to learn parrot fashion to pass exams but managed to do this and then returned to another clerical job. I had no problems really until after a few years of epilepsy and then 2 courses of radio surgery. By this timewas in my forties and my memory. was affected. My verbal memory is better than my visual but I work again in a clerical job using a computer for a govtdept. My targets are reasonably adjusted to make allowances for my memory and slow thinking but I am quite proud of myself that I cope with this work though:-) only part time. .this is a long reply but I had alot of years to cover so I hope you enjoyed my novel!!

I just do work as they come, though because mostly it's for friends or friends of friends or whatever... Ends up being free. Oh well.

Has anyone thought of or pursued doing/paid or volunteering as an art therapist at like a senior services center or something like that?

Iā€™ve started back to work as a substitute teacher. Itā€™s a long way from working in GIS software, but Iā€™m happier.

Hi buddy. Iā€™m a policeman from England and Iā€™m waiting surgery for my brain avm. I have been moved to a desk job without confrontation and I have came off shifts - Iā€™m doing really well and Iā€™m not feeling as tired as I did on shift work and the stress levels have dropped so Iā€™m less tired and less stressed and those two things usually helped reduce my headaches. The only down side is computer screens and keeping me still as Iā€™m a very active person and hate to be a slave to a desk. Iā€™m told post surgery approx 12 months to grow my skull back, I will be back on front line duties dealing with the baddies. The only concern was the weak skull and the time it takes to heal but as you can see there is still light at the end of the tunnel even with surgery.
Take care

i jules, i have had a look out there for art therapist, thats something! One must have a pretty much full time degree to have it tho. But there is a few day courses in southampton where i live, so might have a look at that one..thx

its not easy thats for sure, but keep on looking. More free work, build up your portfolio and there you go. You can always try sites such as elance, freelancer etc.....

Armand, are you in the right job for you now that you are as you are? I worked in a hospital and was a total liability due to my deficits. I am by no means stupid (I have a BA Hons Degree) but I will never achieve 'perfection' in a working environment and it took a long time to accept that.

Armand, you recognise that your memory is not as it was. This is a good thing - ie to be able to acknowledge a change in yourself. You also say that your job requires you to remember alot, which, makes me wonder if you could find something more suitable??? I hope this is helpful.

Iā€™m waiting to start work again, initially part time. Iā€™m a messaging specialist for one of the investment banks in the city :o)

hi rich, good luck there. headache is the main problem for u is it?

back 10 years ago or so, yep i had to do part time, just to start off with. I would say its impossibe to go back to work 9 till 5pm striaght away, TIA or anything, AVM can just knock u out for so long

hi ann, sorry to hear this. whats your main problem would u say? For me, it was aphasia, short term memory. Its so frustrating.....

Hi. I am an RN. I don't work in a hospital setting. I work in a blood donation center. I had a seizure on our mobile October 9, 2012. That freaked everyone out. Since then I have had 2 embolizations and one radiation treatment. I find I have so much trouble getting my thoughts out. I know what I want to say but it is like it just won't come out. Donors look at me like I don't know what I am doing sometimes. It is embarrasing. My co-workers have gotten used to it but they know what is going on. I get all self conscious when I can't find my words. But life goes on...... Could be worse.

Hi melissa, are u aphasic would u say? Im totally in the same situation. Often my words dont come out well, or i just dont store enough information. Im also very self conscious - and if i get bad, i get even more nervous, it all spirals out of control. Sometimes my office co-workers team me a bit, and i just dont like it. and its very embarresing, my entire face just turns totally red when my words just dont come out well, etc

Hi Again Rich - I read this, and although somewhat surprised at what I personally think is backward-thinking in building or maintaining a culture, this is A perspective/argument (in the U.S. anyway) regarding work from home/results-based employment.

Donā€™t shoot the messengerā€¦and hopefully thereā€™s a different majority perspective in the UK.

http://www.businessinsider.com/tony-hsieh-work-from-home-zappos-2013-3

I get all splotchy on my neck and chest. Looks like I have hives or something. Totally embarrasing. Looks like I got some kind of disease or something. Then I am really embarrassed!

Hi Rich, I am a First Grade teacher. I went back to work one year after my surgery. It was a challenge but. It has been worth it.

Maria