Cancerwise

Are some side effects common to everyone after brain surgery? For instance, can you expect to experience some combination of memory lapses, balance problems, personality changes and/or trouble with your speech? 

We went to neurosurgeon Sherise Ferguson, M.D., and four patients who’ve had brain surgery for answers. Here’s what they shared with us.  

Expect your side effects to be unique

The first thing to know about brain surgery is that every procedure is unique — and as distinctive as a fingerprint. Each part of the brain controls something different, too. So, there’s no way to accurately predict how yours might be affected.  

“It really depends on the size and location of the tumor and the way we approach it,” Ferguson explains. “If a lesion is near a part of the brain that controls motor function, then you could have trouble with movement afterward. If it’s near a part that controls speech, then you might have issues with language comprehension or word retrieval. There are no universal side effects.” 

Hannah Kahn, a commercial furniture salesperson who was 32 when she was diagnosed with astrocytoma, says her biggest side effect was muscle weakness.  

“My tumor was on the motor strip affecting my left side, so the surgeon warned me that I would likely feel weak,” she recalls. “But I was so weak that I’d sometimes even drop my phone. I slowly regained my strength on that side by holding items while seated and squeezing a stress ball while watching TV.” 

Expect things to possibly get weird 

Nausea and fatigue are fairly common after any procedure involving general anesthesia. Brain surgeries are no exception. But don’t be alarmed if some of your side effects seem really unusual.  

“Lying on the couch and resting or even sitting up straight felt very unnatural for a while,” says Josiah Mihok, a podcaster from Georgia who was 28 when he was diagnosed with astrocytoma.  

Brain surgery can also cause seizures, though the risk is low and medications are available to manage them. “Any time you touch the brain and irritate it,” notes Ferguson, “seizures are a possibility.”