I am three weeks one day post op and today I have the worst headache ever!! The dr said my MRI is normal and everything is fine. So frustrating!!! I feel like I’m back where I started!! Headaches, dizziness, everything pre- op!! Am I being unreasonable or expecting too much too fast?
Doll,
Recovery experiences all depend on the person. With my Chiari surgery, I ended up catching a spinal fluid leak roughly 3 weeks afterwards resulting in severe meningitis. One symptom that told me something was really wrong was that my neck pain was not getting any better and I would have terrible migraines behind my eyes and in my temples.
After the meningitis cleared up and I had my follow up MRI, my neurosurgeon told me everything looked great and I wouldn't need to see him for another year. For me it has been almost 8 months since my first procedure and I still get dizzy when I lay on my back or turn my head, I have difficulty driving and other issues that make me feel like I am back at square one also. I am waiting for my neurosurgeon to give me a straight answer about what I should do.
I guess what I am trying to say is that even after our surgery, we will never be 100% but we can hopefully be better than we were before. Only you can really know what is unreasonable and what you can really handle. If you think there is something wrong then you need to be firm and detail everything you think is abnormal and just have every question answered.
I'm new to this support group so I hope I was able to be of some help or at least give you some sort of insight to what other post-op experiences are like.