Hey,
Maybe this is a silly question but can someone help me understand why after surgery everyone feels fatigue? I can understand a week or two after the surgery bc of all the meds they give u in the hospital, but is it bc of the trauma of removing the avm?
u have to consider that brain surgery is a shock to ur system, mentally and a lot of times physically. avms, from what i've read here and there, aren't usually discovered because someone woke up and said, "wow, it's a beautiful day for an MRI!" there's usually something that leads up to the dscovery such as a bleed, a car accident, a very long string of migraines or something similar that rrequires looking into or a very detailed exam (like an MRI or other scans). because of this theres usually a lot of healing that is required, for some ppl its a few days in bed and they can go back to work in a week and spend the rest of their lives acting like nothing ever happened. but a lot of [us] ppl dont have that ability. i was extremely exhausted all of time and still am-9 months later.i think my exhaustion stems mostly from the crani but some of it i think is residual from the strain on my emotions during the time. for some ppl, the discovery of the avm alone is enough to wear them down.
Your brain is a very delicate organ. I'm not guessing it likes to be handled too much. For those of us who have had a bleed it's easier to explain. The bleed damaged parts of our brain. Those parts don't work anymore. In order for our bodies to still do what we need it to do, our brains have to reroute the signals to other areas of the brain that were not damaged. This takes much more energy. I'm guessing it's that same for any kind of brain surgery as well. No doubt something will be touched or nicked or bumped or whatever...it may not work quite right. It's going to have to work harder to do what it needs to do. Working harder = much more tired. Those of us who have had bleeds may always feel fatigue because our brains may never repaired to the point where they don't have to reroute signals to accomplish a simple task. I hope that makes sense...
I look at it as "beauty sleep"...whether you want to be beautiful or not.
it all makes sense..thaks everyone. I'm just trying to prepare myself for surgery mentally and physically.
I need to be patient and kind to myself!
Nay if you look at Julie's profile photo you will see that the sleep worked very well for her.
I would post my profile pic but you would plainly see that I need to take some longer naps.
Larry B
Kidding aside I too suffer from a lack of energy 6 months after surgery but I have high hopes that all that is going to change as soon a sping rolls around.