Actually I am 2 wks 3 days post surgery. I stayed in the hospital 3 nights, uncomplicated surgery, and have no other conditions I am dealing with. For the first two weeks my mother stayed with me and took over care for my 2 and 4 yr old. I stopped the valium and Norco at day 10 and used only Advil since then.
For the past week I have felt better moving, doing little things normal to the everyday life of our family. Resting and sleeping were downright uncomfortable. This week I am getting help with my kids 50% of the time, driving to school, but yet also taking easy and slow.
I had a follow up apt with my doctor this past Thursday and he cleared me for driving and picking up my 2 yr as minimally as possible. He said otherwise I look great and has ordered our next visit for the end of Nov and another MRI then.
So, obviously I don't want to risk problems, but I admit I have a really hard time NOT doing anything, and I am very used to very full busy days. I am no where near my normal day, but I am also surprising people for being 2 wks post-op.
What do you think? I know every person is different, but you all at least have more experience than I.
Wow...you are doing great! It took me almost 8 months to get out of bed on my own! Of course I had a 30 mm chiari, massive complications, menningetis, staph etc...I am almost 2 years post surgery and struggle every day to be functional for my 7 kids. Take it slow, you are healing from a major thing!
I had surgery six weeks ago at Sutter Sacramento. Like you, I’m doing well and I’m going back to work tomorrow. I had dural relaxing incisions instead of a patch, so that may be why my recovery is quicker than most. I’m currently symptom free.
My recovery at week two was great and I felt wonderful compared to pre op. However, I overdid it a bit and caused some back pain that laid me up for a week. I was reminded that the muscles in my neck were cut and need a number of weeks to fully heal. My only advice would be to remember that symptoms may occur for 6 to 9 months post op and to not to be surprised if you have a set back. Congrats on the quick recovery.
Ah Dennis, you must have had surgery with Ciricillo. I thought about using him but then went back to UC Davis. Good luck going back to work. I am doing a little work here and there (I have my own company and work from home) and even though I am not using any meds beyond Advil, cognitively I don't feel all there at all. Emails and conversations don't feel like they "flow" and I almost feel drunk/stutter-y if that makes any sense. Hopefully that resolves itself soon
Bearzy, I’m so glad you don’t have complications! Ya! My 2cents here is that if you have an inkling that you might be overdoing it YOU ARE OVER DOING IT! Resist the urge to move around the house, wiping this, putting away that, folding, etc. you may not know right now just how whipped you are. The more rest you get the better you are going to heal. I had a lot of anxiety after surgery, it was hard for me to rest. I felt like I needed to “help myself out to heal” by pushing it a bit. That was a mistake. Just know that being uncomfortable resting is better than setting yourself back. You are doing the right thing to do nothing at home (shy of feeding your babies :). You have all of our permission!
Don’t push it if you can help it. Take it slow and gradually pick up the pace. I don’t have Chiari my 16yr. old does. I would just imagine it’s like what they say when you have a baby. Sleep when the baby sleeps. Take your breaks and take your recovery slow. Having kids you don’t want to overdo it and then not be able to do anything. If you can get help accept as much as you can that’s available. Don’t be afraid to give the opportunity to someone to help your family. There is more happiness in giving. LOL Just one mom to another. It’s good to hear you’re doing well. Keep up the recovery.
Hi Bearzy, agree 100% with Shama. I had surgery 2 years ago and even though I also had a great recovery If I could turn back time and do it again I would avoid doing too much too quickly. For some folks with complications recovery can be longer but the truth of the matter is that even if everything goes great we’re talking about mayor surgery and proper healing takes time. I also have a business from home & it’s hard to do a little when we’re used to a hectic life but that’s part of the journey, learn that we can’t always do it all my best to you!
Please slow down...if not, my guess is your body will react and make you slow down. That's how my journey went. I would try to take two steps forward on the days when I began to feel "normal" and without fail I would get set 3 steps back. I really turned a corner around 6 1/2 weeks. But, then got pneumonia and was in the worst pain yet because of the coughing/straining. I'm doing very, very well now at 5 months post op. All of us have a hard time slowing down, but your neck and head will be the better for it...and that means your family will be also.
You sound like me! I had my surgery Sept. 9th, stayed in the hospital for 3 nights. No one stayed with me at home, though. I never took any pain meds nor any stool softeners. At 2 weeks my 52 staples came out and I felt sooo much lighter(?)…weird, I know. Anyway, at 5 weeks, I started working out and have joined a local CrossFit box. The workouts are scaled down for me, but so far, I’m loving it! I’m going back on Tuesday for my 6-week check-up to find out how my NS thinks I’m doing. LoL! When he released me from the hospital, he couldn’t believe how well I was getting around on my own and how I wasn’t needing any pain meds. (I really only took one at night so it would knock me out and I could sleep all night!) Good Luck to you! I hope you continue improving as I have!!
I'm going to see Dr. Ciricillo at the end of the month. Did he order any additional tests before recommending surgery? Also, any suggestions on questions I should ask? I've gotten drastically worse since my MRI in July and I'm hoping he orders either more scans or some kind of CSF flow study. Thanks for any advice.
Dennis said:
I had surgery six weeks ago at Sutter Sacramento. Like you, I'm doing well and I'm going back to work tomorrow. I had dural relaxing incisions instead of a patch, so that may be why my recovery is quicker than most. I'm currently symptom free.
My recovery at week two was great and I felt wonderful compared to pre op. However, I overdid it a bit and caused some back pain that laid me up for a week. I was reminded that the muscles in my neck were cut and need a number of weeks to fully heal. My only advice would be to remember that symptoms may occur for 6 to 9 months post op and to not to be surprised if you have a set back. Congrats on the quick recovery.
I'm going to Dr. Ciricillo at the end of the month.....who did you see at UC Davis? Always on the lookout for another CM doc to give me a second opinion. Thanks!
bearzy18 said:
Ah Dennis, you must have had surgery with Ciricillo. I thought about using him but then went back to UC Davis. Good luck going back to work. I am doing a little work here and there (I have my own company and work from home) and even though I am not using any meds beyond Advil, cognitively I don't feel all there at all. Emails and conversations don't feel like they "flow" and I almost feel drunk/stutter-y if that makes any sense. Hopefully that resolves itself soon
Berryboys, I had my surgery with James Boggan at UC Davis. Both docs are primarily pediatric surgeons but CM is "the easy stuff" for them and they both seemed very confident.
berryboys said:
Bearzy18,
I'm going to Dr. Ciricillo at the end of the month.....who did you see at UC Davis? Always on the lookout for another CM doc to give me a second opinion. Thanks!
bearzy18 said:
Ah Dennis, you must have had surgery with Ciricillo. I thought about using him but then went back to UC Davis. Good luck going back to work. I am doing a little work here and there (I have my own company and work from home) and even though I am not using any meds beyond Advil, cognitively I don't feel all there at all. Emails and conversations don't feel like they "flow" and I almost feel drunk/stutter-y if that makes any sense. Hopefully that resolves itself soon
my best to you!