For those of you that had a craniotomy clipping, how long is it before you could drive or you felt safe to drive?
Hey Abby,
There is no āmedicalā measure of āhow longā.
I was put through all of the visual field testing and eye tests and told I could ālegallyā drive. All I was told was āDonāt drive if you are symptomaticā¦ā. The fact was there is no way I could drive safely, but the GP, the surgeon and the Dept of licencing all approved me to drive.
One of my major issues is light. Once Iād normalised to āa bright dayā, I was OK. But driving down the road, with the sunlight flashing through the trees, bright, dark, bright, darkā¦ OMG, my eyes were about ready to explode from my skull. Iām about 15km from a shop, 30km from a shopping centre/Dr and 100/150km from the city/hospital. Some days just driving to the local store is too much, but by the same accord, some days I could drive to the city return and be OK. I can never tell.
Iāve often explained medical theory of A+B=C (SymptomA + SymptomB = DiagnosisC), but thatās way too simple for me. Itās more like A+B-CxD/Eā Fā¦Itās not just the light flashing through the trees thatās a trigger. But also, diet, sleep, medication, exercise, noise, mental stress etc, etc and they are all variable and they all add to my āLoadā. I canāt say āWell, at 3pm Iām going to be symptomatic, so donāt be driving at 3pmā my symptoms simply arenāt that ātimeā stable. It all happens āNOWā, if Iām 20km from home and canāt drive, Iām stuck. For months after I had a co-driver, my wife, with me and if needed (and it was, numerous times) she took over the driving.
It was probably 3mths before she (Wifey) was OK with me driving to the local shop alone and I did drive to the shopping centre alone but returned home in a bad way. So, it took her a few more months to agree to let me drive alone after that episode. I was annoyed with her, but in hindsight, it was probably a good thing.
Merl from the Modsupport Team
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I have the same problem w/sunlight while driving. My solutionāa baseball cap. I turn the brim in the direction of the sun, and it helps me immensely. Easy to turn if I go around a corner, and much better coverage than a sun visor. (Wrap around sunglasses were not much help.)
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I had my ruptured Anni clipped in April/May 2016 (still a little fuzzy on the timeline because I was in a coma for six weeks after it ruptured on 29 April 2016). I did not feel safe to drive but the Authorities in BC Canada said it was OK with them if I drove as long as it was OK with my GP ā it was. I waited until December 2020 to go out with a Driving Instructor to āCheck me outā. I booked him for two hours but after an hour he said I āwas good to goā. So I have been sharing the driving duties with my wife ever since, the instructor gave me a. Confidence has grown over the intervening time, and I now feel OK sharing the roads with all the āmaniacsā, it sure is a jungle out there (survival of the fittest). So I would say if and when you feel it is the right time, then go for it and good luck
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I had a clipping & I was cleared to drive at my 6 week checkup.
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My Annie was clipped in 2014. I was cleared to drive once my incision was healed, that took several weeks. You will probably want to be aware that flickering light as mentioned in another response can cause dizziness. I recently had an incident where I was in my car in a line not moving and some flags overhead were waving and causing the light to flicker, I had to put the car in park and have my husband drive. I keep a visor in my car and wear sunglasses. Iāve had no other issues with driving. Good luck to you.
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I agree with the general theme of the messages ā when you feel comfortable and cleared medically, then you will be ready to get behind the wheel. After my aneurysm burst, I had double vision and it was several weeks before my vision was singularly focused. I was also on meds and dealing with personal adjustment to the ānew meā. And then there were the complications of having new periphery blindness and not owning a car, so my driving was contingent of my mother feeling comfortable with me driving her expensive car. She was great, though. My aneurysm burst the end of May; I believe I was behind the wheel sometime in September, but only when she was with me. I got married that November and started driving with my husbandās car that December. Now, I started with short drives, and our town is pretty small (at least it was then!), so I did a gentle transition to build both there and my confidence.
As I shared in another conversation, my dad taught me to be a very aware driver (great nag and teacher he was!), and with that training combined with my new visual challenge, I have become an even more aware driver. Though that may also be because I am biker (motor and pedal), as well. Always watching out for the other drivers who donāt pay attention.
Good luck!
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