Bio: Greeting fellow jellybags, my name is AceBobcat. I am an epilepsy survivor. I was born with the disease, as well as a rare tumor called a DNET (Dysembryoplastic NeuroEpithelial Tumor). I had the tumor taken out at age 7, but my seizures only seemed to worsen over time. At age 14 I had my entire Right Temporal Lobe and part of my Parietal Lobe removed. November will be the 10th anniversary of my second surgery. I live a relatively normal life now, I function like any regular person would. I haven't had a seizure in nearly 10 years.

A few extra facts about me: I was born in Okinawa, Japan, and grew up in Kansas City, MO. I'm bisexual. My favorite author is Edgar Allen Poe. I love penguins. I've also been suffering from depression for 2 years. I'm am avid wrestling fan and a gamer. And I think Back to the Future III was the best of the trilogy.

proof: Me now (nsfw- the bird): http://m.imgur.com/xYH2Jds

My twitter feed: twitter.com/AceBobcat I post plenty of pictures of myself there.

A shot of my scar from 4 years ago when you could actually see it: http://m.imgur.com/c50Wi1R

My YouTube of you want video proof: YouTube.com/acebobcat

Edit: Alright! This has been fun! Thank you for all of the questions, I enjoyed both reading and answering them all! Let's do this again sometime! Ciao!

Comments: 78 • Responses: 28  • Date: 

Rehabilation21 karma

Why were you born in japan round eye?

AceBobcat19 karma

My mother was in the military when my father (also in the military) knocked her up. They were both stationed in Okinawa during the Gulf War.

Rehabilation6 karma

Does that give you any sort of citizenship in Japan?

AceBobcat18 karma

Nope. I was born on the Air Force Base, technically American soil.

Decoy--8 karma

Question: Do you even anime, bro?

AceBobcat12 karma

Dude, when I take dumps, when I scream, my hair turns yellow.

callitsomethingiate19 karma

did you keep it? was the option of keeping it even brought up? would it not be totally cool to have a jar full of formaldehyde with a chunk of your own brain floating around in it?

AceBobcat28 karma

Lmao, it would be pretty sweet, now that I think about it. If I bring a girl home, it'd be like "So this is my bedroom, and this is part of my brain..."

Edit: I did not get to keep my brain. It never actually came up!

MadTrick9314 karma

In a zombie apocalypse, would you feel you have an edge in survival since zombies might be less attracted to your incomplete brain?

AceBobcat-26 karma

I don't think I'd have an edge in that capacity. I do think I'd have an edge because I think I'm smarter than most people. lol.

Rehcamretsnef4 karma

The amount of down votes to this is fascinating.

There's, what, two reasons to downvote this? 1) people dislike the fact everyone's not the same and disapprove of the fact that advantages such as intelligence are actually advantageous. Because of this, 2) people perceive a collective mentality as superior, regardless of circumstances. They'll stand next to billybob and be perfectly fine going with the flow and not taking a personal vestment into a subject.

Being smart and more mobile, able to better understand the world around you, and make any decision in it with greater efficiency and timeliness would be a quality any surviving humans better hope they have to rebuild society. Unless the situation forces you to be jampacked into camps like sardines due to sheer numbers of zombies.. Where you're forced to be vulnerable to the lesser people's decisions. Then you're just a body.

The loss of individuality in today's culture is so depressing. The notion that excellence is detested and looked down upon by the populace (of USA) is a horrifying aspect of today's society.

AceBobcat5 karma

I'm pretty sure it was downvoted because people perceive it as arrogance, which is true of me to some extent. If you call not being modest about your intelligence arrogance, then yes, I am one arrogant motherfucker.

jumpup10 karma

If you could have would you tried cooking and eating it ?

AceBobcat6 karma

Nope.

fduplegs8 karma

How has this effected your fine/general motor skills if at all?

P.S. Edgar is the best! <3

AceBobcat7 karma

The only side effect from the surgery was I lost a little peripheral vision in my upper left corner of my eye.

PS: You're damn right, he is!

Elroy_Bubbins8 karma

What would you do if after the surgery you discovered the you could read minds. The Right temporal lobe was actually inhibiting your power, and the surgery unleashed it. Would you use your new found power to discover what women want - like Mel Gibson in that movie... Mad Max i think it was called?

AceBobcat5 karma

I think that, for a certain time at least, I would. Then, after a while, I would start to become cynical and just say "Fuck the world," due to what and how much I was hearing.

drummel15 karma

Aren't you already cynical for assuming that you'd hear bad things?

AceBobcat5 karma

Faster than I would have.

Rehcamretsnef0 karma

There was only one Jesus. He's dead.

AceBobcat0 karma

"He never existed."

FTFY

Lukescale-1 karma

He did.

If you don't belive in his teaching, whatever, but he influenced most of the western world regaurdlss if he was divine.

There was a Jesus.

AceBobcat3 karma

Actually, what I said isn't true. There's a Mexican guy at work named Jesus.

AceBobcat1 karma

Regardless*

Apparently none of his teachings included spelling.

Glane18187 karma

I had part of my brain removed as well. My brain surgery was about 7 months ago and I am luckily recovering way better than the doctors predicted. I rarely speak of it to people and most people around me don't understand what i went through. Most of it was a mental thing (no pun intended lol). I'm a father of a little girl and it was kind of torturous for me to think that she might grow up without a dad. She did nothing to deserve that... Anyways, thanks for sharing. It's nice to hear from others who have gone through brain surgery. I rarely talk about it. My question is: how has this been mentally for you? My neurosurgeon told me the tumor is coming back and we will deal with it when it happens. Do you worry about things like that? Do you appreciate the little things more now? I've noticed that it's difficult to stop and smell the roses all the time.

AceBobcat3 karma

My problem is I smell the roses too much. I never really let thoughts like that bother me. I mean, at first, I worried if I was actually cured, but 10 years down the line, somewhere along the way you forget about it, and you relax. I've always kind if taken things in stride. "Oh this it's a thing? That's a bit concerning. Oh it's gone now? Cool."

Of course, I don't have the pressure of having a cold to take care of, and the worry of how she'll be taken care of if I die. I wish you the best if lick in your recovery, brother. My father was never really there for me (or my brother, whom I've only recently gotten into contact with), but I admire those who actually try to be loving fathers. I want you to be the best god damn father you can be. Love her unconditionally.

Grandma_JWOWW5 karma

Did you get to see the parts of your brain that they removed?

AceBobcat5 karma

Nope but I did get to see the tumor!

Kayniaan5 karma

Have you had an IQ test done? Has this in any way affected your intelligence?

AceBobcat12 karma

I have not. I want to, though. As far as I know, I've been the same I've always been, save the epileptic fits.

FemaleMadness5 karma

Neuroscientist here, always interested to hear the personal stories. Do you really not have any motor/memory/etc problems?

AceBobcat5 karma

Nope. I think I was young enough for my LTL to take over for my RTL.

ktool3 karma

It looks like you left so this may be too late but I'll ask anyway.

Do you know if they removed part or all of your right claustrum? Or the insular lobe directly medial to it?

Also, did you notice any difference in your consciousness as a result of the removal that you had to adjust to over time?

AceBobcat2 karma

All I know is that they removed my entire right temporal lobe. I don't think they removed the entire claustrum.

Nope. Other than the fact that I was blacking out half the time before and now I'm not, no particular change in consciousness.

[deleted]3 karma

Did you have a long recovery from the surgery? As in, relearning how to function in any capacity.

AceBobcat2 karma

It took about a few days to a week for me to recover. I never really had to relearn anything. I was still me!

LilySapphire2 karma

This may sound like a very stupid question but I really have no idea if I'll ever have the chance to ask anyone. Do they put something in place of what they removed? If not, does the area just fill up with fluid or something? Does the extra space make a hazard for the rest of your brain, like in a car accident or something, your brain has more jiggle room and thus more hazzard to hit your skull harder?

AceBobcat2 karma

Nope. Nothing in the place. They just glued the skull back on and it filled up with spinal fluid from there.

CAShowTIME2 karma

Do you ever forget something that should be easily remembered? (ex.city born in, middle name of father, etc.)

AceBobcat2 karma

Well, I have a very selective memory, so all the important things are there. Although, I always forget the first 3 numbers off my social security.

wild89001 karma

It's probably 603.

AceBobcat1 karma

It's actually 873

HeyZuesHChrist2 karma

A friend of mine in college had a large portion of his brain removed when he was three years old and his scar looked a lot like yours. However, you could tell he wasn't like everybody else. He seemed a little spaced out at all times and would regularly miss normal social cues. He was also embarrassed very easily and really had no sense of humor.

Do you think you have any issues or anything due to your surgeries or anything?

AceBobcat2 karma

Nope. I come equipped with a large sense of humor, as well as vast knowledge of languages and science.

Keira-Knightley2 karma

Do you notice difference from other people that you associate to a result of your surgery ?

AceBobcat4 karma

Nope. Maybe because I rarely associated with anyone to begin with! :)

I've always been able to be social, but I've preferred to be in my own company most of the time, where I am at peace with my thoughts.

Tdeg32 karma

What's a seizure like? What's your favorite of Poe's work, and what's your favorite video game?

AceBobcat5 karma

It depends on the seizure actually. Sometimes you just black out, sometimes you just have a weird feeling in your head, and if you have a seizure in your sleep, you have really weird dreams. I dreamt I was boxing a giant rat once.

My favorite work of Poe's is either The Raven or Tell Tale Heart. I also enjoy The Cask of Amontillado.

Favorite game is either GTA V, or Deus Ex: Human Revolution. I tend to enjoy games with great stories and freedom of choices.

dkreezy1 karma

Did you notice any change in worldview? I have a friend who sustained serious brain damage in an accident who reported rediscovering god. I personally interpret that as becoming reconnected with his higher self, his inner voice, or however else you can secular-ly describe "it." I've wondered how much of his experience could be attributed to neurological change versus the trauma of being in a near death experience. By the way, I'm glad you are living a comfortable life post-op!

AceBobcat1 karma

Not from the surgery or anything to do with my condition, but after a breakup, I changed my world view by a lot. I actually used to worry about what other people thought of be. After watching The Breakfast Club a zillion times, one line always stuck with me.

"We're all pretty bizarre. Some of us are just better art hiding it, that's all."

I decided to embrace myself, and my personality, no matter how bizarre. If they can't handle me, uncensored, unmitigated me, then they're not worth my time.

Broketographer1 karma

Do you take Topomax for the seizures? Do you get migraines? Did the surgery affect your personality much like Phineas Gage? Do you attend a TBI support group? TBI patient myself so thank you for this AMA and sorry for the barrage. ;)

AceBobcat4 karma

I think I took Topomax, Kepra, and another drug. I don't think it effected my personality at all. If anything, I think the time away from human contact effected me more so. I took a year of home school before I went to high school. That scared the shit out of me. So. Many. People. lol. I got over it after High School, now I don't care what other people think of me!

I never attended any support group. Dealt with it all by myself! Looking back, though, it kinda woulda been helpful :)

Broketographer3 karma

The brain is amazing. Always just a matter of which area is affected. Best wishes to you.

AceBobcat3 karma

Thank you! :)