Hello everyone. I know it’s been a while. I chose to have my decompression surgery with Dr. Heffez on June 23. I did not have a fusion as he did not see that it was necessary at this time. He thought that it would complicate things quite a bit. I woke up from surgery feeling better immediately. It was so exciting to have a clear head for once. About two days after surgery I developed an allergic reaction to the wash they used on my skull before surgery. They knew I had an adhesive allergy yet they used this wash that had adhesive and it anyway. I had several boils and blisters filled with pus that leaked for days. Other than that I thought the surgery had been successful right away. My recovery was easy from there. My had never felt so clear. I can’t remember the last time I didn’t have a headache.
At the end of four weeks I felt so glad that I was cleaning my house and back up to full speed. On Friday I got quite a few things accomplished and by Saturday I had a headache that was worse than before surgery. I have not experienced this headache since surgery. Since I’ve had a taste of life without it I’m very frustrated I want this headache to go away so badly!
The back of my head is sore, neck muscles are sore, my headache goes from the back of my head up to the top of my head and behind my eyes and forehead. I called the surgeons office on Wednesday and I still haven’t heard back. It’s very hot back there and I’m worried it might be a spinal fluid leak or that my body might be rejecting the titanium plate that was used to cover Mike or a patch.
Is it normal to feel so good after surgery for almost 4 weeks and then take a turn like this and feel this bad for almost a week now?
Thank you in advance for all your replies! I’m definitely scared that somethings wrong and I will feel much better if I know that I just overdid it and it needs some time to heal. I’m supposed to go back to work on August 4 and I go down to the surgeon in Milwaukee on Wednesday for my postoperative MRI. Maybe they’re just waiting till then to see me or talk to me.
Ell so sorry you are feeling bad. I agree that with signs of an infection go to the ER. I also agree that you may have done way to much way too soon. Lay flat and rest for a few days and see how you feel. Even for someone who has not be active headaches can return in varying severity and then just disappear again- I think it’s a normal part of the healing process. 4 weeks is still very early post op.
If the headache won’t go away you can always try the neck collar… Let us know what’s happening and how you are doing.
Jenn
So I called my doctor again on Saturday luckily he was the one on call. He told me to go to the ER right away too. So I went to the ER in Marshfield the closest hospital that is worth anything. They did a CT scan and didn’t find anything. The ER doctor would barely touch me. He was in contact with My dr. the whole time. They sent me home with naproxen. In the hospital the Toradol helped a lot. My headache is less than it was last week. I guess I did too much. I went down to Milwaukee for my postop six-month follow-up visit and had an MRI on Wednesday. Dr. says that everything looks good and there’s no evidence of a leak. My white blood cell count is a little elevated. Maybe I’m just fighting a cold in addition to recovery. It does feel a little swollen there and warm to the touch but the muscles are probably the cause. The doctor also said that my inner stitches might be trying to work their way out so that is why it’s irritated in the back. For now I’m trying to take it easy. Thank you everyone for your responses and your time.
I’m glad everything is ok! This surgery is very, very hard on your neck muscles and it takes quite awhile for them to recover! It is so easy to overdo things once you start feeling better though! You might want to try rubbing arnica gel on your neck! It can help!