I am almost one month post-decompression (January 6th) and wanted to check in today. Some days are better than others, but most days are good. I need to work on getting up and walking more. The first week after surgery was challenging, but since then, I've only thrown up twice. I've been nauseous a few times, but the Phenergen helps with that. I'll pretty much go all day w/o pain, but by the end of the day, my neck and/or head will start bothering me. Most of the time, its really just my incision sites that hurt. I say sites (with an "s") because I do have a few incisions in my scalp where they had to place the halo around my head. Those scalp incisions tend to be more tender than the incision down my neck and the back of my head. It was a joyous day when the staples were removed and I could finally really wash my hair! LOL! The surgical assistant did a great job saving my hair and shaved very little (photo posted on my page here).
Today was frightening because there were two different times where I stood up and almost passed out. There were times before and after surgery I'd get a little dizzy, but today, everything went black and I thought I was going to faint. I didn't though. I really think its my fault. I haven't been getting out of the house, or even walking around the house very much to be honest because I've been tired. I think I've been sitting in the recliner and watching TV too much. That is going to change tomorrow because I really want to return to work by the first week of March because my benefits will be running our soon.
There is one odd sensation I still have. The back of my head, where they retracted the skin on my scalp during surgery, still feels "disconnected". Did anyone else feel that way? Its still kind of numb and doesn't feel like its a part of me (if that makes any sense). The base of my skull is still kind of swollen, so when I want lay on my back, it feels funny and awkward. Fortunately, I'm a side-sleeper.
My left arm is still acting up, but the surgeon and I figured I will probably need another ACDF surgery to remedy that problem. I'll have to try to put that off at least a year. Anyway, I'm sorry about the ramble. I just wanted to say hello. Take care and God bless!
Don't worry about the rambling: I do the exact same thing! Lol
My skull is still swollen too.
And I still have periods of dizziness.
Every morning and several times a day I get up and walk around my prison cell errr house.
And I march in place, do shoulder and arm rolls, stretch my back out (I hunch my shoulders fwd and curl my back forward like I was going to touch my toes but without bending over if that makes sense) and move my legs about sideways, hamstring "curls" if you will and really rotate my ankles around in circles etc...you know stuff to get the blood flowing and all that.
You can do it sitting down too.
That may help the dizziness and almost blacking out feeling you are getting.
If you are like me: there is nowhere to walk and since we can't drive it is difficult!
Hang in there my friend...freedom is near!! Lol :-)
Aussie, I agree with EM (again- I always do!) that you should be on alert for dysautonomia, possibly pots. I have dysautonomia (not sue if it’s POTS or not) that came on after surgery. Do you feel like your heart beats faster than it should? Take your heart 4 times a day, including right before bed and just after waking in the morning, log it. Log how many times you almost pass out. I now take a beta blocker, and although I avoided that for months because I just didn’t want to have something else wrong with me, I rarely think about it now because it has helped SO much.
The back of my neck is still swollen a year later- I think it gained some permanent weight!
I am 4-1/2 months post op. I still have a lot of discomfort in the back of my head and the sides where they had the pins for the halo. I also think that those spots feel worse than the actual incision site. They are very numb, tingly and sore. The PA for my NS said that there are branches of the occipital nerve that run in the area where the pins are inserted so there may be some damage there (my left side is worse than my right). He said it may or may not get better. I have swelling at the base of my skull as well, but I have a small pseudomeningocele which is causing that. I understand the "disconnect" feeling that you describe. Basically my head feels like it doesn't belong on my body anymore - it is very strange.
I had and still have dizziness/vertigo, but the passing out doesn't sound right. That is worth a call to your NS. Good Luck.