I worked up until my first, partial cyst removal and was off for a year afterwArd. I then worked for almost another 20 years before the cyst grew so large it had to be removed again. While I had the cyst I missed a lot of work due to the migraines. Now, I have a lot of scar tissue in my brain which causes Cronus headache, not like the cyst ones though and memory loss. Many people, as I did after my first surgery, do return to work.