confusion and difficulty concentrating after surgery

[kelsi]

One complication of surgery my SO encountered that I don't remember reading about is the effect of the removal of vestibular nerves on concentration such as reading or figuring out math and just getting confused about right and left. Any comments? Any optimistic experience and progress? He had surgery July 1. I also am surprised that he still has as much pain as he has and dr. only gives Advil now.
kelsi

[leapyrtwins]

Kelsi -

there have been several posts on the forum about concentration issues, mixing up words, etc.  It seems this issue is fairly common, although some feel it's not related to AN surgery.  Did you try a search?

Also, I'm not one who had pain post op, but I do know that not all over-the-counter pain meds work the same for all people.  My neurotologist once told me that if Tylenol or Advil didn't work for pain to try Alleve.  Your SO might want to try another over-the-counter pain reliever and if that doesn't work, he might want to consult his doctor.

Jan

[sabuck]

Prior to my surgery I spoke with someone that had AN surgery about 15 years ago. He said for a while, (I don't remember how long) that he could not think of a word that he would be trying to say. He also had some slight memory issues and so did I. The good news is that it all resolved. Best wishes. 

[HeadCase2]

Hi kelsi,
  I agree with sabuck, things do get better.  At only three weeks post surgery, the brain is working overtime trying to learn how to deal with the changed vestibular input.  Vestibular processing, like a lot of brain processing, is not conscious processing, so it's not obvious that there is a lot more going on than normal.  But the brain is doing a lot of extra processing for a while to compensate for losing one vestibular input.  This is also one of the reasons that AN patients can become fatigued so easily in the first several weeks after surgery.  Give it some time.  Your SO will be amazed how much better they will feel after 6 weeks compared to 3 weeks.
Regards,
  Rob