sengels
11-19-2006, 11:10 PM
Hi Folks!
I have lived and I have returned from the MVD surgery I
had the day before last and it was not bad at all. I
almost feel bad writing about this because everyone seems
to be having a much harder time on my TN email list than me.
I just got back this minute, and I could not get my husband
to send updates as my 4 yr old woke up with a fever the same
morning my surgery was scheduled. And she hadn't been sick
in months before that! I also did not get my home Rx's yet so
I have to just give you some nitty-gritty, some unexpected
things and some things that helped.
#1 - I would have died if I did not bring along my Sudafed
for the eye pain. Horrible!! It really helps tons. Those
complaining about occipital pain, I'm telling you, try it!
#2 - I feel mostly bruised and beat up. The vice marks
on my head are bruises, there are bruises all up and down
my arms, my incision is extremely tender. Even my abs got
sore from sitting up without throwing the weight of my head
and shoulders forward as is normally done and also maybe from
the barfing, more later on that.
#3 - My ear feels full and it seems like I cannot hear
out of it, yet I still use it to talk on the phone, so
I do know that it is working. Still, it is probably the
second most annoying thing next to the bruising.
#4 - What helped best with the throbbing soreness was the
steroids I was given. Not the two giant Percoset, not the
valium, but the steroids. I will be tapering off from them
at home now.
The one first day after surgery was actually a nightmare for
me but only because I am just a rotten patient. I told them,
give me something besides Morphine when I wake up, and I don't
like codeine much either, so go with Percoset.
So after surgery, they dutifully give me the only one other
IV painkiller, which is Dilaudid and I threw my guts up. I
couldn't keep down water. So for the first 24 hours I suffered
through no hydration, no nourishment, no pain relief with a
POUNDING "top of the head missing" type headache. I screamed
and cried all night long and actually threw things at the staff
who tried to placate me with tylenol, telling them the stuff is
a garbage placebo for the masses.
While I was barfing up water, everyone kept coming in and asking
"Where'd she get water?" and they'd point to my water bottle and
say "She brought it!". I always bring my own, much to their horror.
Oh, why was I standing and throwing things? I peeled off all
the wires and tubes like the Hulk, 18 hours after surgery.
Honestly, getting rid of that crap (especially the catheter
but not the IV) makes me feel immediately better. I am the worst
ICU Patient ever.
Finally, a tough-love tall russian guy ICU nurse comes in to
tell me "Look, when your brain stem swells, first you throw up.
Then you get very very sleepy. Then you die. Now you can see
that if we were give you any pain relief and you naturally get
sleepy from it, we couldn't tell if you were dying or not."
OK, so that shut me up. I just cried and cried. I knew I made
my own bed. My pain was without a doubt a 10 that night, I would
have to almost say worse than the original Trigeminal Neuralgia
pain even.
Luckily later I felt a little better and needed food but wasn't
going to be given any. Thank god, I always bring that too for just
these hospital deprivation occasions. I ate two chewy granola
bars, and kept them down. After they saw that, I got my percaset.
Then I felt so much better that the next day I got up and got dressed
and everyone asked if I was going home that day. I said "No, I don't
think so, I just had brain surgery yesterday."
So then I put my shoes on, grabbed my bags myself and walked down
to the regular ward for decent care that did include food and medicine.
I napped a lot and came home today, the next day. It was as if
I suffered all I was going to suffer just that first day.
I was just handed my meds by my husband. I am expected to take:
Vicodan, which is 5mg hydrocodone and tylenol. 2 mg of Valium for
muscle spasms and that was all my surgeon's idea. A nice idea.
The generic of my steroid, it says here is Methylprednisolone.
It is a tapering blister pack. They also fed me colace and pepcid
the whole time I was there.
It hurts to cough and poo and I cannot sit down briskly onto hard
surfaces because the pain shoots right up to my head. I wasn't
given staples like everyone else, just sutchers. For a minute
after surgery, I thought my tinnitus got cured, but no, its still
there. I am not confused, very tired, or in too much pain. I can
turn my neck much more than expected. I can probably drive in
a week. I just feel really beat up, that's about it. Not bad at all.
I even went into Zabars and bought some gourmet food to bring home
on the way home from the hospital. Unlike the hemifacial Spasm patients
who have gotten MVDs, food doesn't taste terrible to me, but it does
seem to taste kinda bland and even my favorite goodies seemed terribly
unimpressive.
All in all I would say this was totally worth it. I've got to lie
down now though. I'll check back later for questions and concerns.
Regards,
Susan E in NYC
I have lived and I have returned from the MVD surgery I
had the day before last and it was not bad at all. I
almost feel bad writing about this because everyone seems
to be having a much harder time on my TN email list than me.
I just got back this minute, and I could not get my husband
to send updates as my 4 yr old woke up with a fever the same
morning my surgery was scheduled. And she hadn't been sick
in months before that! I also did not get my home Rx's yet so
I have to just give you some nitty-gritty, some unexpected
things and some things that helped.
#1 - I would have died if I did not bring along my Sudafed
for the eye pain. Horrible!! It really helps tons. Those
complaining about occipital pain, I'm telling you, try it!
#2 - I feel mostly bruised and beat up. The vice marks
on my head are bruises, there are bruises all up and down
my arms, my incision is extremely tender. Even my abs got
sore from sitting up without throwing the weight of my head
and shoulders forward as is normally done and also maybe from
the barfing, more later on that.
#3 - My ear feels full and it seems like I cannot hear
out of it, yet I still use it to talk on the phone, so
I do know that it is working. Still, it is probably the
second most annoying thing next to the bruising.
#4 - What helped best with the throbbing soreness was the
steroids I was given. Not the two giant Percoset, not the
valium, but the steroids. I will be tapering off from them
at home now.
The one first day after surgery was actually a nightmare for
me but only because I am just a rotten patient. I told them,
give me something besides Morphine when I wake up, and I don't
like codeine much either, so go with Percoset.
So after surgery, they dutifully give me the only one other
IV painkiller, which is Dilaudid and I threw my guts up. I
couldn't keep down water. So for the first 24 hours I suffered
through no hydration, no nourishment, no pain relief with a
POUNDING "top of the head missing" type headache. I screamed
and cried all night long and actually threw things at the staff
who tried to placate me with tylenol, telling them the stuff is
a garbage placebo for the masses.
While I was barfing up water, everyone kept coming in and asking
"Where'd she get water?" and they'd point to my water bottle and
say "She brought it!". I always bring my own, much to their horror.
Oh, why was I standing and throwing things? I peeled off all
the wires and tubes like the Hulk, 18 hours after surgery.
Honestly, getting rid of that crap (especially the catheter
but not the IV) makes me feel immediately better. I am the worst
ICU Patient ever.
Finally, a tough-love tall russian guy ICU nurse comes in to
tell me "Look, when your brain stem swells, first you throw up.
Then you get very very sleepy. Then you die. Now you can see
that if we were give you any pain relief and you naturally get
sleepy from it, we couldn't tell if you were dying or not."
OK, so that shut me up. I just cried and cried. I knew I made
my own bed. My pain was without a doubt a 10 that night, I would
have to almost say worse than the original Trigeminal Neuralgia
pain even.
Luckily later I felt a little better and needed food but wasn't
going to be given any. Thank god, I always bring that too for just
these hospital deprivation occasions. I ate two chewy granola
bars, and kept them down. After they saw that, I got my percaset.
Then I felt so much better that the next day I got up and got dressed
and everyone asked if I was going home that day. I said "No, I don't
think so, I just had brain surgery yesterday."
So then I put my shoes on, grabbed my bags myself and walked down
to the regular ward for decent care that did include food and medicine.
I napped a lot and came home today, the next day. It was as if
I suffered all I was going to suffer just that first day.
I was just handed my meds by my husband. I am expected to take:
Vicodan, which is 5mg hydrocodone and tylenol. 2 mg of Valium for
muscle spasms and that was all my surgeon's idea. A nice idea.
The generic of my steroid, it says here is Methylprednisolone.
It is a tapering blister pack. They also fed me colace and pepcid
the whole time I was there.
It hurts to cough and poo and I cannot sit down briskly onto hard
surfaces because the pain shoots right up to my head. I wasn't
given staples like everyone else, just sutchers. For a minute
after surgery, I thought my tinnitus got cured, but no, its still
there. I am not confused, very tired, or in too much pain. I can
turn my neck much more than expected. I can probably drive in
a week. I just feel really beat up, that's about it. Not bad at all.
I even went into Zabars and bought some gourmet food to bring home
on the way home from the hospital. Unlike the hemifacial Spasm patients
who have gotten MVDs, food doesn't taste terrible to me, but it does
seem to taste kinda bland and even my favorite goodies seemed terribly
unimpressive.
All in all I would say this was totally worth it. I've got to lie
down now though. I'll check back later for questions and concerns.
Regards,
Susan E in NYC