I'm Dr. Robert Fenstermaker. I'm head of neurosurgery at Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center. Craniotomy is a neurosurgical operation in which the neurosurgeon makes an opening in the skull to remove a tumor or other pathology and closes things up. The majority of patients who have a craniotomy are in the hospital for three or four days, sometimes less, sometimes more, depending upon their physical needs after surgery. A person who has a craniotomy for a brain tumor recovers at home usually for a couple of weeks gradually increasing their activity level.
It depends on the situation of course but they can in most cases return to work and do other things after a few months.