You might stay in hospital for up to 10 days. You will then need to continue to recover when you get home. This might be for 6 to 12 weeks.
Most patients are pretty active postoperatively and resume their normal activities within a few days, and often return to work around four to six weeks after surgery.
How Long Does It Take to Recover After Brain Surgery? In total, it typically takes about 4-8 weeks to make a full recovery from a brain surgery. The initial incisions on your head may be sore for about a week afterwards. You may have some mild headaches for a period of about 4-8 weeks as well.
You are likely to feel drowsy and sleepy after you wake up. This is normal and it happens because of the anaesthetic and painkillers. You, or your relatives, may also notice that your head or face are swollen and bruised. This swelling will go down over time.
Usual length of stay for patients who undergo a craniotomy for a brain tumor, with no complications, is two nights, three hospital days. Patients who have postoperative difficulties may be required to stay longer.
It is safe to be active after brain surgery. You might have an increased risk of having a seizure – if you are unsure discuss this with your doctor or specialist nurse.
Having treatment for a brain tumour is often life changing. Some people make a full recovery and are able to go back to work. How long it takes for you to recover depends on your individual situation. Everyone takes a different amount of time to recover.
The median survival for patients with low-grade tumors may be more than 10 years, and for patients with high-grade tumors, it ranges from 1 to 3 years. For glioblastoma (the most common primary brain tumor in adults), the median progression-free survival is 9 months and the overall survival is 19 months.
Brain surgery might sound like a frightening procedure, but it is quite safe. Doctors who carry out these surgeries are very skilled specialists. You can share any concerns with your doctors and cancer nurse specialist. They will be able to tell you what will happen during the operation.
Some people recover well after brain surgery, but this can take some time. Other people have some problems, or long term difficulties. The problems you may have depends on the area of the brain where the tumour was (or still is if you only had part of the tumour removed).
Avoid heavy lifting until your doctor says it is okay. Do not drive until your doctor says it is okay. Ask your doctor if it is safe for you to travel by plane. Avoid risky activities, such as climbing a ladder, until your doctor says it is okay.
Depending on your age at diagnosis, the tumour may eventually cause your death. Or you may live a full life and die from something else. It will depend on your tumour type, where it is in the brain, and how it responds to treatment. Brain tumours can also be fast growing (high grade) and come back despite treatment.
Surgery to remove a brain tumor has a risk of side effects and complications. These can include infection, bleeding, blood clots and injury to the brain tissue. Other risks may depend on the part of the brain where the tumor is located.
Some brain tumours are cured with the first round of treatment. But unfortunately, it's common for brain tumours to come back some time after they were first treated. When a cancer comes back it's called recurrence.
The main treatments for brain tumours are surgery and radiotherapy. Some people might have chemotherapy. Your treatment depends on the type of tumour you have, where it is and your general health.
The outlook for a malignant brain tumour depends on things like where it is in the brain, its size, and what grade it is. It can sometimes be cured if caught early on, but a brain tumour often comes back and sometimes it isn't possible to remove it.
Craniopharyngiomas typically are benign, but are difficult tumors to remove because of their location near critical structures deep in the brain.
After surgery, you will be moved out of the operating theatre to a large area nearby with medical monitoring equipment (recovery room). Some people will go into the high dependency unit (HDU) or intensive care unit (ICU). You'll probably receive pain medicine through tubes or an intravenous drip.
Glioblastoma is the most aggressive type of brain tumor and is brain cancer; However, a small group of patients survive 5, 10, and even 20 years after initial diagnosis.
Most cancers that are going to come back will do so in the first 2 years or so after treatment. After 5 years, you are even less likely to get a recurrence. For some types of cancer, after 10 years your doctor might say that you are cured. Some types of cancer can come back many years after they were first diagnosed.
You will need to have someone to stay with you after you go home until you feel safe to be alone for at least a few days after your surgery. Work with your health care team to determine how long you may need support and what supports are available in the community.
Neurosurgery can cause some temporary swelling around the brain, so it's normal to experience memory loss after brain tumour removal or biopsy. You may also experience difficulties with your memory after brain surgery if surgeons had to remove brain cells that were responsible for your memory.
The minimum price for Brain Tumor Surgery in India starts from INR Rs. 95,000. The average cost of Brain Tumor Surgery in India is INR Rs. 1,90,000.