JR01,
I am at 3 months and 2 weeks today post op (not that I am counting or anything) … and this is the
first week I am back to my
full working responsibilities and I am actually getting things accomplished (
finally). I am not the same as I was before surgery and probably
never will be as I know that for AN post-op patients- balance takes much energy and fatigue is greater as our brains are working harder than the non AN patient.
Size of the tumor is not an issue. It has much to do with
where your tumor was located. My tumor was pushing on the brainstem and wedged under the cerebellum. My handwriting over the past few years has gotten from bad to worse (I thought it was age ie did not know I had a whopper of a tumor growing) … last month my family and I noticed how
much better my handwriting has become. The cerebellum controls our motor skills so I am presuming there is some relevance there.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebellum &
http://biology.about.com/library/organs/brain/blcerebellum.htmMy coordination was pretty lousy the first month post op. I bet this has something to do with the fact I had the cerebellum retracted during surgery and it was slowly shifting back into place- post surgery).
Dura fluid
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meningeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cerebrospinal_fluidAlso dura fluid normally collects where the tumor was removed from and it will take time for the CSF fluid to start circulating properly without collecting in the pocket where the tumor was.
Perhaps you are having unrealistic expectations of yourself going back to work so soon.
If you are not feeling well enough to go back to work perhaps you should see your doctor to see if you can extend your leave time.
In the USA here I feel many people go back to work
way too soon but they do so due to needed income, health benefits etc and have no other choice… when really they need more time to heal. Every patient will be different in their healing time and tumor size is not always the determinate. There is the time you were under anesthesia (which takes time to leave the body fully), if you had a blood transfusion (I did of my own blood), your age and what sort of physical health and fitness you were in pre-surgery all after to be considered.
If you are taking any medications you may also want to look to see what the side effects are-
as this too could be affecting your alertness and writing abilities.
How well are you sleeping at night? Are you getting 7 hours consecutive?
Are you having any eye issues while at the computer?If you feel you are not ready to go back to work and spend hours doing e-mail (i.e. writing) and you do not desperately have to go back to work- then don’t. Take time to heal. Month 2 -3 was a tough and a very impatient time for me … seems once I had healing signs after month 3- I perked up a bit.
Cheers,
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