Surgery Time

We went last week to meet with the neurologist and surgeon.  I thought this meeting was merely to summarize all of their findings from the SEEG, the meeting with the psychologist, and all the other data they have been collecting over the last year.  That was true, but they had also tentatively scheduled a surgery date for us.  That date is THIS FRIDAY - Oct 23rd!

The SEEG was apparently very successful - it much more precisely located the origin of the seizures. In fact, the combination of the SEEG, with the 24-hour observations, revealed that Julia was actually having two different types of seizures emanating from two different places in her brain. One set of seizure are in the right temporal area, and these tend to be the typical seizure that we witness.  It is a moderately hard seizure and one during which she has several minutes that she cannot remember what has happened.  The other is in the right insular cortex and tends to be a mild seizure (at least by outside appearances), and might look like the beginning of seizure that then fades away.  In fact, the seizure HAS happened - it is just a different type of seizure.

The decision for surgery is very complicated.  Between the neurologist and the surgeon, they are confident of the procedures, impacts, etc. of performing a resection in the temporal lobe of the brain.  They are also beginning to see scarring in the brain, which will cause increasing difficulties if left as is.  These impacts are not static - they will continue to become more pronounced if we do not address them.  The primary function of this portion of the brain is retaining visual memories.  Julia acknowledged she has been having more trouble retaining things she has been studying in school.   The more difficult decision has to do with the insular cortex.  This is a difficult area to work in, with a complex maze of blood vessels running all through it.  Damage to this area during surgery could cause motor skill degradation on her left side.  Some recent surgeries in other countries that showed these complications, showed that physical therapy could help remediate the negative impact over time.  But this is the scary part of the equation.  The dangers are hard to quantify, as well as the chances of success.

Julia is holding up pretty well.  She is increasingly scared, but determined to try and get her seizures taken care of.  The possibility of living life without seizures is one that is so appealing, she is willing to go through the surgery.  Please pray earnestly for Julia and the surgeons this Friday.