I will be 9 wks post op tomorrow. Over all I'm feeling much better. I still get headaches bending over and standing. My hearing comes and goes, as does tinnitus. Because of the positional headaches, I've suspected a pseudomeningocele. My NS's nurse keeps saying to "wait and watch" and honestly, things have seemed to improve, or I guess decrease in frequency. However, this morning my left fingers (pink and it's 2 medial neighbors) have gone numb, also the lateral aspect of my hand and wrist. It was sudden, however, the past two days when putting on make up I notice lack of sensation in the left side of my face. Another recurring symptom from my pre op state is stress incontinence. (love discussing this :-( ).
Any ideas? I coincidentallly have an appt with my PCP today. Since the numbness this morning-when I dropped and broke something, I just can't stop crying.
I just want to start off by telling you that I am not a doc and not even a nurse! I , have, though, been where you are right now!
I feel so blessed that my NS told me this tid bit of info before surgery..went something like this.."Since your CSF has been goofed up for at least your entire adult like, maybe your whole life...it is going to take quite some time for the brain/body to get use to the correct flow...You may even get NEW symptoms..but they will go away fairly quickly!"
If he had not told me this , I think I would have felt like I was loosing it!!! But, when you sit down and think about how CSF functions...it makes sense! I hope you find some comfort in this...you are only 9 weeks post op...give yourself a break...a chance to heal.
As far as the peeing...many meds can cause this lovely side effect....in my case....I could not pee!! Holy Moly....did that hurt and your situation hurts just the same....I am sure you are mortified...it will pass...wear a pad and try to sit on the toilet every 2 hrs ..even if you do not feel like you have to go..We used this system with my mom who had stress incontinence...and it really , really helped her...not us...our backs were killing us!! ha, ha, she was a plump ,nice lady!!!
I would suggest to you that you bring a detailed list with you to the dr. today and ask that it be forwarded to your NS..gotta ask them..b/c more often than not...it will stay in your file there and go no where else!
Hang in there. Some funny symptoms seem to come and go during this recovery. I'm 5 mos. out and still have some random stuff pop up. Tell your PCP today and either have her let your NS know or just call and update the nurse on the numbness so they'll have that in their files. My NS told me that numbness in the extremities would be the last of the symptoms to go away and could take over a year!
Thanks for the responses. I guess it upset me so much because it's been gone..and wasn't this bad preoperatively. I guess i need to just calm down . I will discuss this in detail with my PCP and have put a call in to my NS.