Has anyone completed medical after having a left temporal lobectomy due to epilepsy?
Can anyone share their experiences in and after medical school with epilepsy?
Any insight on either would be greatly appreciated.
My story:
I was accepted to an MD/Masters Dual degree program. During my Master's I started having seizures and was diagnosed with Epilepsy.
I differed starting medical school for a year to get a better hold on my health condition. I have been seizure free (excluding simple partial seizures, "auras") for almost a year. But I do get auras a couple times a day.
Now doctor thinks left temporal lobectomy surgery is the best bet.
I am not confident in either continuing in meds and just dealing with auras, or proceeding with surgery and the risks associated with it.
Continuing meds:
I am on relatively high dosages of Keppra XR, and Aptiom and feel side effects of both, including tiredness, aggression, etc.
Currently, I am just sitting at home, and I am worried that jumping back into medical school will stress brain more and trigger more seizures, which may decrease the effectiveness of the meds or force me to drop out of school due to poor performance.
And seizures might be further stimulated by rotations/residency.
Surgery: It would be nice to be free of seizures, but the potential side effects especially a decrease in memory/left brain performance are very scary.
My memory is already subpar, and surgery might just make it worse.
Can anyone share their experiences in and after medical school with epilepsy?
Any insight on either would be greatly appreciated.
My story:
I was accepted to an MD/Masters Dual degree program. During my Master's I started having seizures and was diagnosed with Epilepsy.
I differed starting medical school for a year to get a better hold on my health condition. I have been seizure free (excluding simple partial seizures, "auras") for almost a year. But I do get auras a couple times a day.
Now doctor thinks left temporal lobectomy surgery is the best bet.
I am not confident in either continuing in meds and just dealing with auras, or proceeding with surgery and the risks associated with it.
Continuing meds:
I am on relatively high dosages of Keppra XR, and Aptiom and feel side effects of both, including tiredness, aggression, etc.
Currently, I am just sitting at home, and I am worried that jumping back into medical school will stress brain more and trigger more seizures, which may decrease the effectiveness of the meds or force me to drop out of school due to poor performance.
And seizures might be further stimulated by rotations/residency.
Surgery: It would be nice to be free of seizures, but the potential side effects especially a decrease in memory/left brain performance are very scary.
My memory is already subpar, and surgery might just make it worse.