What is post surgery like after removing avm? How long did it take for anyone reading this to recover? How long was it before you could do your daily activities, hobbies… example, four wheeling, gym, hiking, etc… my avm is near the surface and it is in the right temporal part of my brain. My doctor said it is in an area that will be easier to get to, but either way it is surgery… I live a very active life and I don’t honestly don’t know if I could just stop everything for a very long time… how long does it take to go back to work and go back to normal.
It sounds scary but to me giving up some things for awhile in order to keep living is very much worth it. Wishing you the best 
Hi Corrina,
I just had my avm removed from my right temporal lobe (3cm superficial in nature) on June 12, 2017. Tomorrow will be a month post op and I’m up and walking (some days almost 15,000 steps…some days 5,000 steps…) I have found that I have energy and my biggest struggle is the emotional part of the healing and trusting that I am capable to do the things I could do before surgery. I am still not lifting anything over 5-10 pounds but that’s my only restriction as of now. I have driven short distances and have not taken Tylenol for any pain in almost 2 weeks. (I was never taking any pain meds, only Tylenol even when I was in the hospital). I start every morning with a daily devotional and that is helping me grow the emotional and spiritual strength I need to move through this healing process. If I’m totally honest, many moments of the day I feel completely normal. I hope this is helpful. I wish you God’s peace and healing through the surgery and recovery. - Danielle
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Hey Corrina,
I had an AVM in my left temporal lobe and i had it removed almost 4 years ago right as soccer season began. Im gonna try to answer your question with as much detail as possible because thats what i would’ve wanted when i had questions before my surgery. So, post op i stayed in the hospital bed for two days. Third day i was up and walking to the bathroom and down the hall. I left the fourth day. The two days in the hospital bed kind of sucked because 1) Catheter and 2) the surgical drain sitting in my lap sucking the blood out of my head. It really wasn’t bad though. Once i could get up things got a lot better. I could walk around but i still had to hold my drain which was gross. Overall, id say recovery took about two weeks. Complete recovery in a month and a half. I had to stop playing for about 4 months because i wanted to be safe. I was back starting games in half a year ( i avoided all headers and played lightly). The only part that bothers me is that i have epilepsy now and there were complications in my surgery and sometimes my cognitive ability is iffy but i am absolutely fine. Couldn’t even tell i had surgery. I was fine in less than half a year.
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Wow you’re amazing, thank you for sharing your story with me. My symptoms have been passing out and having a seizure, it happens every few months. The first one was about a year and a half ago and since then they are spread out from each other and I know when it’s about to happen because I get this aura sensation “you may call it” I feel like I am in a dream and don’t feel very normal and it lasts about 2 minutes and then I faint and seizure. I don’t remember anything until I snap out of it and then I’m always fine… it’s scary but atleast I now know the causes… I recently found out about my avm and now I’m going to eventually have to get surgery to remove it. Are you happy you got the surgery?
I was active 2 months after surgery. They just told me don’t do anything to crazy till the stitching was out but even after those were out still wait a week. After that do the same things you have on the list 4 wheeling gym and hiking are some of my hobbies. I was 10 at the time so it was tricky to keep a 10 year old boy restrained.