Hi Afsi,

I had epilepsy surgery in July 1999, and the way your mom is doing
sounds exactly like I did.  I was 37 at the time and in good physical
condition.

She will feel and sound weak and need lots of rest for several weeks.
After 2 weeks I was able to be active for an hour or two, but would then
need to lie down and nap. I wanted to do more, but was physically unable
without those naps.  I lost 13 pounds even though I thought I was eating
pretty well.  I didn't have my stamina back until about 6 weeks.

Her surgery probably took 5-6 hours, which means that her body is still
getting rid of the anesthesia.  I had abdominal surgery earlier this
year, which took less than an hour.  I was amazed at the ease of
recovery from that.

So, please tell your dad to back off.  She is not physically able to be
up and around.  She is unlikely to be depressed.  Underneath the
lethargy I was more and more enthusiastic as the days passed and I
didn't have my daily seizures.  The best you can do for her is allow her
to rest.

I found that vicodin made me nauseous.  Tylenol worked for the pain I
had.  I had trouble finding a comfortable position to sleep because the
stubble around the incision would dig into the pillowcase and then pull
at the wound when I moved.  Tying a silk scarf around my head helped.

Four years later I'm seizure-free.  Best wishes to your mom.  Please
share this message with her and with your dad.  If you have any
questions, don't hesitate to email.

Liz

Afsi, I had similar surgery about three years ago, I was 42 at the time (I'm
a guy in case you want to tell your dad).  For the first couple of weeks all
I did was sleep.  In all I lost about 25lbs during the four weeks following
surgery (I was in excellent shape with very low body fat at the time, and I
lost a lot of muscle).  Luckily I  had almost no pain. I kept in touch with
some of the people I met in the hospital that had the same operation and
almost all of them had a lot of pain and headaches for a while afterwards.
Two weeks after my surgery I went for a walk around the block and was soaked
in sweat when I got home (I don't sweat that much when I run 5k's) so give
your mom some time to get back on her feet.  As far as depression goes, it
seems to be a side affect of the surgery, although knowing that lets you
fight it.  When I started feeling really down I use to just tell myself that
it was a side effect of the operation.  Write me if you'd like to know
anything else about my experience.
Mike