Any advice on what to expect? How recovery went for some of you? Just very nervous about the whole thing! They are only operating on two of the five, I have two on the left that they may attempt if they can get to them safely. Then one on basilar tip artery they said is too risky to operate on but it’s the largest of the five and they said they would stent it sometime after surgery. The two being operated on are the anterior communicating artery. Just scared I guess
Momof6momsters- sorry we missed this. Have you had your crainiotomy yet?
No, it is tomorrow
I can’t eat or sleep and I’m on day 5 of post op, still in a tremendous amount of pain! Any advice at all?
Mine was a rupture followed with coiling procedure so I don’t have much in the way of advice or insight on your recovery but as for “can’t sleep” I can relate, it is just after 6:00 and I have been up for 2 hours or so.
My recovery was slow but steady, eat healthy even if in small amounts more often, sleep whenever I could, rested when I couldn’t, melatonin helped some. Headache went from constant to eventually daily to periodically…my experience at least.
Most important, stay positive and celebrate small victories. Keep a journal of sorts to look back on when you forget how far you’ve come.
Wishing you all the best!
It will get better, I promise! I am 4 weeks post op of clipping a unruptured 10mm on MRA. One of my earlier posts was asking about a good pillow because I couldn't sleep with the one I had. The first week your job is to rest, take your meds ON TIME so you can try to stay ahead of the pain, eat light in small portions and try to make it a good protein and try to get up and walk a little - all this to get your strength back. Come to find out my sleeping problem was due to the problem I had before surgery......menopause! I used a product called Estroven nighttime before surgery and it worked wonders for all of my symptoms but I went off it after surgery because it has melatonin in it and didn't want to mix that with painkillers. I weaned myself off painkillers in one week so I could use the melatonin and have been sleeping great since. Ask your doc if melatonin is OK with your meds. Week 2 post op was 100% better than 1st week but a word of caution...you may start feeling better physically but your brain is still healing and will be for awhile. Week 3 is when I realized this will be a LONG road but the depression seemed to lift. I am now in the acceptance stage.
Rest, stay ahead of the pain and eat small and light. Gain a little strength and you will see a difference in the next week.
Keep us informed and PATIENCE!!!
How are you doing???
Me or momof6?
richard e scholz said:
How are you doing???
I am still in a great deal of pain. I am in day 7 post op. I am having seizures that started Tuesday. These are apparently a result of the surgery, and we won’t know if it’s permanent till sometime down the road. Still having some trouble eating, they had to cut my jaw muscle for my surgery, it is taking its sweet time healing. I am experiencing pain behind the eyes, pain and ringing in the ears and some mild hallucinations(mostly hearing things not seeing them). Anyone else have similar experiences? I go December 16th to start blood thinners for prep for stents in the other 3. Did everyone have a lot of pain with their surgeries?
Hey Mom,
Ohhh yea, I experience/d all of those 'sensations' post craniotomy. I get a whooshing sound in my ears with each step when walking and as for my eyes.... ....2.5 yrs on since my last operation and my eyes are awful, terrible, chronic source of pain. Bright lights are absolutely unbearable. I have a skylight in my kitchen and I've had to cover it as every morning I'm in agony, the dr's have labelled it 'photophobia'. On average it can take a couple of hours for the pain to recede to a point that I can function. My balance is another thing that is very bad, especially in the mornings. I go to sit up in bed and the blood is POUNDING behind my eyes, then standing I get dizzy and often fall over. ( I say 'often', my wife's reading this over my shoulder and tells me "...it's not 'often', it's more like 'always'...'). I must say the whooshing in my ears has since ceased/reduced. The dr's tell me that once the holes from the craniotomy have sealed the fluid (CSF) surrounding the brain has no further room to move and make the whooshing sound and this is why the whooshing has reduced. But when standing up I can hear my pulse, amplified 10 fold, but again, eventually this settles.
As for the "...lot of pain..." HELL YEA. I had a nurse ask me to rate my pain out of 10, with 10 being the worst pain ever. I said "15". "Ohh it can't be THAT bad" she said. I told her to lay on the ground and I'd boot her in the side of the head. She did not like that response but then I did not like her asking stupid bloody questions either.
In short, some things do improve, but slowly. Don't be expecting to be running a marathon for a while. And although I say some things do improve, you may find as I have, something's may not improve much at all. For me it has been a very fine balancing act in trying to rehabilitate myself, balancing between doing too much, then paying in pain and doing very little, then getting annoyed with self because I'm not doing anything.
Best of luck with your rehabilitation and keep us informed on how you manage. Others maybe able to use some of your 'coping skills' to manage their own situation.
Merl
Momofsix,
sorry to hear you are in so much pain. I can't give any advice as it was my Dad who had surgery for brain aneurysm, not myself. But all you can do is take it slowly and let time heal. As frustrating as that sounds, time will help to heal you.
Sorry I came upon this late and seems you've already had surgery. I also had the craniotomy and cutting through of my jaw muscles and stuck to eating smaller soft foods for a while but it does get better. I slept on a recliner to help the pain in my head. Pain from lights, sounds, fast moving objects, tv...it gets better.
My aneurysm was 8mm. Never knew I had it until it ruptured. I spent about 14 days in hospital, the majority of them in ICU, just for monitoring purposes. I was up and walking a week after surgery, had complication with balance (gait) but was told it was normal and would improve. The pain was the hardest for me. I have a low tolerance for pain, so as someone else mentioned, do stay on top of pain management. Once I got that under control things went smoothly. Recovery? well I think it differs per person. I had issues with cognitive and later neuro (small stuff). I returned to work 3 months after surgery and was given permission to drive about 4 months after.
Please keep us posted with your recovery. I am wishing you well and that your recovery is speedy. Take care.
best wishes
One year tonight it happened to me driving home from work. I work for the FEDS and I am AOK ...my advice make sure you have a great care provider that hears you speak of your pain. I got the treatment and drugs needed to help me over that huddle don't let them underestimate your pain only you know can control it right now. I never knew what was about to happen to me cause I didn't know, my identical twin sister was born with them in the same place. After what happened to me she had a CAT scan done and she has the same ....now I am doubled worried for her....remember to keep you primary care provided updated how you feel and your pain level.....there is a purpose why you are here and it will come to you I PROMISE
PS
I had to ANNIES I was born with...they clipped the one that ruptured and the other one.