Has anyone done occupational therapy after decompression surgery? I have been having some memory issues since my surgery 4 weeks ago. I have asked my NS for an order for OT to try to help prepare myself to return to work. My memory issues are not severe but enough that it would effect my job. My NS said its too soon to do OT. Has anyone heard this before? Starting OT too soon? She said its from the pain meds and muscle relaxers, I haven’t taken meds for over 2 weeks and the memory issues are actually worse since stopping meds and not while taking them. I’m just trying to get back to work and thought OT would help.
Hey Jen, sorry you are suffering with the memory problems. I’m 6 weeks out and having a hard time with this too- it’s baaaaad. This is my second surgery, and so can say that two weeks off meds and one month out from surgery and anesthesia is not enough time to get the poison out of your system. I think you will see lots of improvements with the cognitive issues in the coming weeks and months.
I know OT is different than PT and have never done OT…but my rx for PT is for 3 months post op. One month just might be too soon physically and mentally. How do you feel about going back to wrk so soon? Are you ready or do you need a few more weeks. My first surgeon told me one month off of wrk would be plenty of time to heal up- not the case. I actually took 2.5 months before heading back and even that was a little soon. I had a lot of anxiety leading up to the that one month mark cause I knew I wasn’t ready.
Jenn
Cognitive problems go along with both the anesthesia from surgery (with longer lasting effects!) and with chiari itself. More than a year after surgery I have seen a neuropsychologist for my cognitive concerns. He told me that there is a predictable pattern for cognitive deficits in people with chiari both pre and post-surgery. My understanding is that memory problems with chiari people are more of a problem with attention, not memory. I do not take the time to register a memory in the first place. I have not gotten much information on what to do about these deficits and if they resolve after surgery or not. I am still on the hunt for that information. A very skilled OT or someone knowledgeable about getting brain injured people back to work with various memory aiding strategies might be helpful. I am going to be talking to someone next week about that sort of thing. There are also good books available to "get more organized" that are helpful. The neuropsychologist did emphasize the need to minimize distraction (auditory/visual) during every part of your day so as not to tax that part of the brain that filters out stuff (no music other noise in the background, pictures and other junk removed from work area, etc)
I had surgery on July 23 and I started OT and PT this week. I was supposed to start last week but there was an issue with paperwork. So, my surgeon would not let me start until I was at least 6-weeks out.