@A MyEpilepsyTeam Member
Getting myself prepared before the day into the hospital, My first thought was to shaved my whole head. I wanted all my hair to grow back evenly. But, that didn’t stop my hair from growing back fast. I was also in my 20s when I had brain surgery. My hair grew very fast. I your someone, who’s hair doesn’t grow back fast , then in my opinion, it really shouldn’t matter.

If the Dr. and you do decide on the brain surgery and you are a candidate for it, there are also a few pretests that you may have do. Between scheduling the appts for each test, It took about a year to do them. I did a Neuro Psych Test ( 2 parter ). The first part is like a personality questionnaire . The second part was a IQ type test. Then there was the MRI, a 4 hour EEG and the WADA test. The time of the visit to the Epilepsy Unit at the hospital, They opened up part of my skull, where my seizures are located and placed a special type of electrodes against the brain. This is the Mapping test. They then brought me back up to the Seizure Unit and connected the the Mapping test to the EEG . Once they were able to get a big seizure out of me , they were able top get it mapped out , so they could take the next step, which was the the brain surgery.

Hope this helped you John

Mentioned Users

A MyEpile...

From my experience, it hurts quite a bit for the first couple of days. It also depends to on what parts/part you are getting removed. I got my left temporal lobe, left hippocampus, and my left amygdala taken out. I did loose my vision for a few days along with body coordination, but it is nothing to be scared about. The other side is just getting used to more assignments. Once you get your vision back good enough to leave you might still have to wear an eye patch for a while. It can take a while for the vision to restore on what ever side you had the operation done on. It is a normal thing though. I would also be careful on where you get it done. I would recommend the cleveland clinic. That's where I got mine done. I have not had a seizure in over two years now, and six months ago I was declared officially cured. Good luck I hope you can find a solution.

I had almost the exact same surgery about 15 years ago, boy how much they've updated/advanced in that time. I'm glad you've come out ok. It looks like they have figured out a way to not use staples. I hope that your recovery in the next week or so isn't too bad. Some hair will grow back I promise. But for now if you don't want it to show, just brush your hair over that part of your head. That's what I do.

@A MyEpilepsyTeam Member,
They did an unusual technique during your brain surgery. For the many of us, including myself, were told to remove our hair. Since my surgery was behind the left temporal lobe, I was told to shave that side of my head. I decided to shave it all off. Then everything will grow back evenly

At my arrival, I was shown my room, so I could drop a few stuff off . Then I was brought into an operating room and they removed a portion of the skull 💀 and then they placed special electrodes against the brain, th stapled the skull 💀 back in place. After that, I brought back up to the Seizure Unit and got the EEG electrodes placed on top of my head. After they got the mapping results they needed from my seizures. I was scheduled for the surgery the next day. When I can to, the staples were removed and replaced by a big area of stitches. Then sent home to recover.

Mentioned Users

A MyEpile...

Hi @A MyEpilepsyTeam Member .

When discussing about the surgery, they told me that I had to shave the side , that my seizures were active in. I chose to shave my entire head. I wanted everything to gro back evenly.

Opening up my skull , to put the electrodes next to the brain, was the only time they used staples, to hold the skull piece in place.

After everything was done they then stitched it, instead of staples. I figured that was the the norm.

Mentioned Users

A MyEpile...