Had my surgery yesterday. Everything went as expected. So far I am doing well. Better than expected. I’ve been cleared by occupational therapy and physical therapy.
I am in some discomfort but it is not unbearable by any means!
HI!!!!
THRILLED to read that you are doing so great!!!!!! Keep us posted as the recovery continues.
Still feel pretty good. Got released the day after surgery. The nurses said I was doing better than any of the other chiari patients they had dealt with. Good thing i have a high pain tolerance because the night nurse never brought my pain meds! otherwise the nurses were so amazing!
I am at a local hotel until at least tomorrow to play it safe as I am five hours from home. Other than stiffness and a sore neck I feel good. Pain is not bad at all! I feel very blessed!
I actually went to Target and CVS yesterday for supplies. Took it slow and felt pretty good. Trying to rest today!
Wanted to say Internet is sketchy at this hotel so I’ve been slacking on welcoming new people. I will resume when I get home!
Thanks so much for the well wishes everyone!
Awesome!! That is great to hear! 
Wow! That is fantastic to hear!
Anglyn said:
Still feel pretty good. Got released the day after surgery. The nurses said I was doing better than any of the other chiari patients they had dealt with. Good thing i have a high pain tolerance because the night nurse never brought my pain meds! otherwise the nurses were so amazing!
I am at a local hotel until at least tomorrow to play it safe as I am five hours from home. Other than stiffness and a sore neck I feel good. Pain is not bad at all! I feel very blessed!
I actually went to Target and CVS yesterday for supplies. Took it slow and felt pretty good. Trying to rest today!
Yay! I know you are relieved to have this behind! I hope your feeling good is an indication that your surgery will be a wonderful success story. Keep us posted on your progress.
You are an inspiration!!! I am sooooo torn between deciding whether or not to let my 16yr old daughter have surgery. I keep asking my Dad (who has passed) to please send me a sign that will help make my decision easier and for the best. I consider you to be one of those signs!!! Take care and go slow, hope your success continues!!!!
Thank you my surgery is coming up soon its help to hear from someone like you to keep my spirts up
I am so happy for you !!! Please keep us posted on how you are doing !!!
Sorry to jump in late to this conversation. Was it a decompression surgery? It's not nearly as scary as I thought it would be. Glad to hear you are toughing it out. If you can get out, I say do it. Retail therapy can be great :) Sleep when necessary, but get back to your life as soon as you can. (I still walked to the coffee shop after only 2 days of recovery.)
Be proud of your scar, too!
Angyln,
I just read this. I am so happy for you. Wow! You are such an inspiration to all of us. Just take it easy. Don't worry about anything other than healing and taking care of yourself. We are all here for you.
Wendy
Its great to see a post like this!
Thanks for the well wishes. I left Cincinnati yesterday and headed home! I had concerns that the top of my incision felt a bit squishy so the doctor said to run in before heading home. He gave it the ok, said it was likely soft tissue or even a little blood. Said csf wouldn’t really leak up. I felt much better after getting the ok.
Today I am home. The drive was good… The roads in WV are bumpy as can be but I just propped pillows all around me.
Pain is still bearable (doc said I could be in a smidge more pain as hospital steroids continue to wear off). My pain meds make me itch so I am spacing them as much as possible. Walking around seems to help me feel better. I have hit a big drowsy stage so I rest as much as I can too!
Overall I feel better than I imagined. Just uncomfortableness really.
Dylan, yes I had decompression surgery, the dural graft, and removal of my C1!
I am new here but wanted to tell you thank you for being so courageous!! I was recently diagnosed and dont see Surgeon until November 19th. I am scared to death. You have all been so wonderful to me. Anglyn you are in my thoughts and my prayers. It makes me happy hearing such wonderful news and takes some of my nervousness away if surgery is to be my route in the near future. Rest up and take it easy. And again thank you for being an inspiration to me. God bless!! Faith
Faith: I was scared to death myself. Totally normal! The morning of surgery I tried to talk my husband into driving me to the Cincinnati Zoo instead of the hospital! lol! So far I can say it's not nearly as bad as I feared. It's uncomfortable and there are moments of pain but I've felt worse...the first thing I told my family upon waking was that it wasn't as bad as the tonsillectomy I had a couple of years back! ;p Thanks for the prayers and I am praying for you as well!
My husband says it's dorky but I am really thinking of custom ordering a shirt that says "I left a piece of my skull in Cincinnati". Kind of a play on those I left a piece of my heart shirts. haha.
I think you deserve the T Shirt....I think I would have one made that says " I left part of my Cerebellum in Pittsburgh". ;-)
I smile every time I read your post!!!
Tracy Z.
Today I returned to Cincinnati for my scheduled incision check. The past couple of days it's been red and itchy. The PA says she does not think it looks infected but she does think that I could be having an allergic reaction to the surgical glue.In the past I have reacted to band-aids and surgical tape so I guess this shouldn't be a surprise. Now I am trying to safely balance my prescriptions with benadryl to get this itching under control. It's a little stressful but overall I'm still feeling very little pain and don't consider it a setback.
This makes me feel a bit better about my upcoming surgery. Where did you have yours done?
Congratulations on an excellent experience.