Mine was for a cavernous angioma, essentially a vascular defect that hemorrhaged and led to seizures. (The sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner had one of these and unfortunately died from complications.) I was really fortunate that my first seizure happened while at work and that my work is right near a hospital. The only other symptom I'd had was some nausea. Since this happened in the winter and I already had a cold, I'd assumed I was coming down with the flu.

I could have opted out of surgery but my team at the hospital really advised against it. I would have had to stay on anti-convulsant medication for a very long time (possibly the rest of my life) and I would always risk having another bleed. The surgery was in the frontal part of my brain, so it was an accessible location (relatively speaking). The recovery process was not pleasant, but I'm basically back to normal now. The fact that I'm an otherwise healthy 25 year old female helped out as well.

It's still uncomfortable to tell this story to people I meet because they always say something like "OH MY GOD you had brain surgery! And you're functional?!" It's true that there are people who have these congenital conditions who end up with much worse complications than mine. I learned this on my first visit to the outpatient neurology clinic and saw someone in the waiting room with severe speech and motor impairments. But there are also lucky people for whom it's just a weird blip in their medical history. I'm not Brunehilda, who tragically suffered a cerebral hemorrhage at 25 and had to have her skull cracked open right before Christmas. I'm Brunehilda, who runs around 40 miles per week, makes a mean batch of brownies, and is dreaming of graduate school.

I was just "diagnosed" with the same thing about three weeks ago (10/2/09). My mom found me unconscious in the the middle of the night on the bathroom floor. I had another seizure right after she called 911. I had five seizures in all and was in a induced coma like state for three days. Luckly I don't remember most of my time in the hospital, which was a total of 6-7? days (I bounced back quickly that last day).

I am on anti-convulsion medication like you were and unfortunately it makes me really tired and I would love to stop taking the stuff. I can't drive for six months and have to be watched constantly. I feel like i'm 7 again and being a 17 year old female in high school, makes that seem like the end of the world, even though I know it's not.

Now am contiplating surgery next year around early June, just around my 18th birthday or right after. I'm honestly really freaked out at the thought of brain surgery. I tell everyone it's because i'll lose hair (that i'm very attached too), but I think it's the thought of some guy I don't really know drilling into my skull and going into my brain, which i'd like to keep the full use of. I am really sad about losing my hair, but I know it grows back. I'll probably have the surgery because it's basicly my best option. It's just scary. It's constantly running through my mind. I'm always thinking of the "what if's". Any advice?

Yeah, the idea of brain surgery is definitely freaky. It's certainly not something that I mention to people when I first meet them because it seems to make them uncomfortable at times. I'm not a doctor and I don't know where in your brain the operation would take place, so I can only speak for me. My surgery was in the front of my brain, so I was really lucky that it was in a relatively accessible place. If I'd been looking at something near my spinal cord or pituitary gland, for example, it might have been a different story. If I hadn't had the surgery, I would have needed to stay on medication my whole life and risk dealing with more complicated problems down the line. For what it's worth, they only removed hair in the area where they needed to make an incision, and I'm able to cover it with the rest of my hair which is long. I feel for you on the loss of independence. I had to temporarily move back in with my parents (I'm 24) and also lost my license for 6 months. It was really annoying to have to ask them for rides. But after my surgery a lot of friends and family visited me at home and eventually I was able to do some low key activities like short walks or going to the movies. And now everything's pretty much back to normal.

Unfortunately, for her, it was even more serious. Her melanoma had metastized to her brain, and the tumor was about the size of a pecan. The surgery was the wek before Thanksgiving, and she followed it up with proton beam therapy, ( a precise type of radiation which focused the beam on the tumor), and later, whole brain radiation. She's now taking a whole raft of drugs, including antiseizure, steroidal antiflammitory, antianxiety, sedative, antinausea, etc.

Glad to see you are doing well. Keep it up.

Mine is in the same place. They told me I was pretty lucky to have it where it is. I'll have the surgery right after this school year lets out. I just wish it wasn't right after my 18th birthday, but I rather have it then then somtime during my last year of high school. I'm not sure how much hair they are going to shave off because I've heard so many different stories about that. The first time they told me just a small part where they need to make the incision They second time they told me 1/4 of my hair would be shaved. I have long hair as well, so I hope it's the first one. I'm not looking forward to the recovery. I hope it goes by quickly. All in all, I just want this thing out, who knew a small mass could make so much trouble? Thanks for repsonding to my post, hearing someone elses story definitely helps me deal with this.