A Post-Craniotomy Media Diet
Craniotomates are told to take four to six weeks off
of work after surgery. Due to the nature of my job (teaching = getting a
long-term sub) and the holiday schedule, I am fortunate enough to get two
entire months off. Since my pain and discomfort are minimal, this sounds like a
great time to kick back and get caught up on my Netflix streaming, no?
No.
Brain surgery is unlike other surgeries, I’ve
realized. When I had my colon removed in 1985, I indulged myself in MTV and Danger Mouse and listened to tapes of
Howard Jones and OMD. When I had exploratory abdominal surgery in 1991, I
watched news about the Gulf War and The
Golden Girls. I listened to my tunes when there was nothing good on TV. But
now, after my craniotomy, my house is often silent.
Brains are complicated things, simultaneously fragile
and remarkably resilient. Brain surgery and the medications prescribed for
swelling and seizures afterward mess with the functioning in some subtle and
not-so-subtle ways. (See “Location, Location, Location” about which lobes do
what and how that may affect post-surgical responses.) My response to
television, radio, and other noise and information has been interesting.Four days after surgery, Brian and I decided to get caught up on a couple shows that we love: Last Week Tonight with John Oliver and Stranger Things (season 2). During John Oliver, which is a half-hour comedy news show, I found myself thinking, “My god, is this an hour-long episode? Why is it taking so long?” I felt myself getting a little impatient with Stranger Things, too. As far as I could tell, I was understanding what I was watching, but it’s possible I wasn’t tracking it completely. I had ZERO tolerance for commercials: so noisy, so many flashing bits of information pelting my brain. I just couldn’t take the information onslaught that is television. Information overload.
About a week in, I became able to enjoy my regular slate of TV programs, but I rarely strayed into new programming or left the TV on after my selected program ended. Even with shows I like, though, I can sense my boredom reflex getting activated more quickly. I haven’t been listening to MPR very much at all. I don’t want background noise, not even music because even the classical music station occasionally devolves into too much talking. (One of my friends had a craniotomy three years ago, and she reports that she still is less tolerant of background noise.)
You know what doesn’t bore me? Staring out the window. Yep, I do that a lot. I totally get why dogs and cats do that so much.
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| Me as a cat |
Side note: I had mixed feelings about being a football fan before surgery, due to the whole chronic traumatic encephalopathy issue, but now that I’ve become a temporary visitor to the world of suboptimal brain processing, I feel even worse about it. I will have to consider whether I want to continue watching football. That being said … Go, Pack, go!
As I’ve recovered more brain processing ability, I’ve discovered that I can watch some football, as long as I have the sound muted. I can “watch” a news program, as long as I close my eyes. I tend to fare better if I can choose to either watch or listen; doing both still tires me. My thoughts create plenty enough noise for me.
And what about reading? It took a few days for my reading vision to return to normal (normal near-sightedness, that is), but once it did, I found I could read without too much problem. But I’m still finding it difficult to maintain concentration while reading news articles or essays. Fiction has – thankfully – been able to keep my focus (The Buried Giant by Nobel Prize winner Kazuo Ishiguro was an oddly appropriate read for someone recovering from brain surgery), though when I’m tired, all bets are off. [Update: Now that I’m off the steroid, it’s getting harder to concentrate. It took me about five minutes to read two pages of the novel last week because I kept getting distracted and would find myself staring at the wall instead.]
Lesson
for future craniotomates: Don’t expect that your recovery,
especially the first few weeks, will be filled with great TV programming, funky
playlists, or interesting podcasts you’ve been meaning to catch up on. Your
brain is tired, my friend, and you do not yet grasp just what that means.
Addendum: I came across this article on Slate.com, written by someone who experienced a mild concussion that made her re-evaluate her screen-time. Her issues are different from mine, but my brain issues have also caused me to alter my phone checking and media consumption. I used to be addicted to Candy Crush, but other than a few games in the first week or two after surgery when I played as a way to check my visual and fine motor skills, I have not played since. I hope that continues.
Addendum: I came across this article on Slate.com, written by someone who experienced a mild concussion that made her re-evaluate her screen-time. Her issues are different from mine, but my brain issues have also caused me to alter my phone checking and media consumption. I used to be addicted to Candy Crush, but other than a few games in the first week or two after surgery when I played as a way to check my visual and fine motor skills, I have not played since. I hope that continues.
I would appreciate the time spent as cat staring out a window... or alternatively lounging on a warm ocean beach as part of your recovery?
ReplyDeleteI can’t remember the last time that I watched live TV. Hmmm... perhaps some of the political debates last year. Nowadays I DVR absolutely everything I watch, even sporting events, just so I can scan past the commercials. Try doing that. You get a rewarding feeling of control / victory when you zip past the ads. -G
ReplyDeleteWe do DVR our shows. Some commercials are inevitable, though, as once we've watched the high-value shows, we may still want to watch some TV, such as a cooking show or the Property Bros--not important enough to DVR regularly but still capable of sucking us in. We DVR football games, too, but we often get caught up to the live broadcast, especially for night games. Though commercials are the worst because they're often louder than the shows, it's TV in general that's a problem for me because of the simultaneous sight/sound issue.
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