I blogged a couple of weeks ago about being diagnosed with an unruptured aneurysm. I have had a lot of feedback and questions about my recovery after brain surgery. I wanted to talk about my first week after my surgery and how my recovery went.
I had a Craniotomy/Brain Surgery on Tuesday September 11th, 2007 at Emory in Atlanta. I was in Neuro ICU for 24 hours. I was then moved to the Neuro unit until I was ready to go home. I slept for the majority of the days and nights while I was in the hospital. I was able to eat regular food the day after surgery. My head hurt like I was run over by a fleet of Mack trucks. But the doctor's kept me doped up on Morphine, which kept me happy and sleepy. The biggest complaint I had, besides the 47 staples in my skull, was that my right eye was completely swollen shut. Noone really confirmed why, but from the bits and pieces of what I heard, when the surgeon opened my head, he pulled my skin down to my eye which caused trauma and a ton of swelling.
I was released from the hospital on Saturday after my surgery. I live alone, but was not able to go home alone until I could get approval from my surgeon.
So, I stayed with my parents. I had a bit of trouble with balance and walking. I had to sleep and stay on the first level of their house for the first few days to be on the safe side. I slept pretty much all day and night for the first 2-3 days I was home. The more I stayed laying down and slept, the more my eye stayed swollen shut because of the fluid.
My parents were a huge part of my recovery in that they really pushed me to get up and move around. My Mom and I started taking short walks (the advice of my surgeon) several times a day. This helped with my balance and swelling of my eye, but I scared the neighbor kids. Thank goodness they only shaved a small portion of my head, and not all of my hair!
My head was sore, especially if I put any kind of pressure on my staples or the right side of my head. But, my headaches were gone!! I had no memory loss whatsoever, which was apparently a concern. After about 5 days, the swelling in my eye had gone down a great deal. And I was even able to see out of it. On day 12 after my surgery, I went home to live alone. I even drove myself! I felt great! Not at all like I had been through brain surgery. But I felt especially great because I did not have to worry about the aneurysm rupturing.
Until next time.....
Driving after 12 days!
That's incredible!
Thanks for telling us your story. Brain surgery must be terrifying because of the risks of brain injury, memory loss and other factors.
You seem strong as a horse, both in body and mind. Good for you! And thankfully you don't have to worry about your aneurysm rupturing. Who wants to live with that ticking time bomb?
Keep up your blogs, I'm really enjoying them!
Posted: Sun., May 4, 2008, 06:43 am
Enjoying you sharing your story and blogs!
Thanks so much for sharing your story with us, I am not going to miss a single post. You are a very strong person
Posted: Sun., May 4, 2008, 04:38 pm
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