Recovering from neurosurgery: a patient's story

01 February 2010

In 2004, Pamela Walker had an MRI scan and discovered that she had several unruptured aneurysms in her brain. "I did not know what an aneurysm was and my GP carefully explained that it was a balloon like swelling on an artery in the brain. The swellings are weak spots which can rupture and cause a brain haemorrhage," she says.

Pam, who tells her story in our Patient's Perspective section, had an operation to coil some of the aneurysms - with small metal coils being inserted into the aneurysm to prevent blood flowing into it, reducing the risk of a bleed.

Now, five years on, Pam describes some of the challenges she faced in the aftermath of the operation - and, vitally, some of the strategies she has used to overcome them.

Challenge 1: Mental fatigue

"Mental fatigue post-operatively was an issue with me," says Pam. "Physically I felt fine, but a trip to a supermarket with bright lights, all the different products, colours, shapes and noise mentally drained me. I could spend hours doing light gardening, but put me in a crowded room for 15 minutes with a lot of conversation and the fatigue would hit me."

"Things did improve, but I did need to pace myself. I could go to work, go shopping, but for a while I could not go shopping after work - the shopping needed to be done on a day off work. I could socialise, do housework and everything I always did, but I couldn't rush around as I used to. Learning how much is too much was difficult, but once I had mastered it, life got a lot easier."

Challenge 2: fatigue isn't visible

"People couldn’t see anything wrong with me so assumed I was ok. They couldn’t see the fatigue and when I got fatigued I could get my words muddled. Many times people said, 'but you look so well'."

"I got round this by saying, 'If I had had an operation on my leg, you wouldn’t expect me to be running races so soon after surgery. Well, my brain has had an operation and it needs to be allowed to work slower.'"

Challenge 3: Seeing Neurosurgeons

"I have been really lucky I have a wonderful patient neuro-radiologist who explains everything to me and has answered my endless questions, but not everyone may be so lucky. My advice is: Always take the proactive approach, take someone with you as it is easy to forget what is said or to misinterpret. Take a written list of questions and don’t leave until they are answered!"
"Everyone is different but I hope that reading some of my challenges will help people," says Pam. You can read Pam's story in full in our Patient's Perspective section.

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