Hi everyone I had my chiari decompression surgery on November 10th. I was only in the hospital for 2 days and when I came home I thought I felt pretty good. I had a heavy feeling head and a hard time swallowing at first but nothing that I thought felt extreme. On the 8th day after surgery, I had some swelling at my incision and the doctor said it might be fluid but not to worry unless it started leaking. On the 12th day after surgery I started having severe headache that felt like chiari headache. Medicine would not help and it would not go away. I lay down that night and woke up about an hour later wet. It had started leaking. My headache was gone so that was a relief. I called dr and they told me just to not lay flat and see them the next morning. So, I went to Dr. and they put some more stitches over where it was leaking and ordered me to have an mri that night. I felt great for about 4 to 5 hours and then I had the most excrutiating headache ever and could not even move my head it hurt so bad. I knew I could not have an mri so I called the Dr back and they said go to ER. By the time I got to the ER I was shaking and my fingers were numb. They gave me pain meds there and did an mri. I was admitted that night and stayed in NICU for one night and then was transferred to a room. Dr. said my mri looked fine but he wanted to keep me to make sure it didn't leak again. Well, that night it started leaking again. It was not very much though so he wanted to keep watching before doing any drain or anything. The next day he said the same thing. The next day, it was leaking bad again so the dr said they would do a lumbar drain that evening. After that procedure was the worst pain ever. It was so horrible. I had the drain for 5 days and he then clamped it to see how I would do. I was okay, walking around and things but would still get a headache after a short time being up. Laying down would relieve it though. I was ready to go home. I had spent 11 days in the hospital including Thanksgiving so he said I could go home when I was ready. I figured I could lay down at home and maybe I just need more time to heal. Well, I have been home for 5 days now and so far I have just been up for little bits at a time and laying down most of the time. This morning I notice swelling in my neck again which is where this all started and I am starting to worry. I am not in any more pain than I have been, just swelling. The dr didn't think I needed a VS Shunt while I was in the hospital and I am scared to get that as well. I know everyone is different, but I would really appreciate any advice if anyone has had a similar experience. Thank you and prayers to everyone.
I am a 1 1/2 years post op and I have fluid build up. Did not have any problems like yours after surgery. Neck is swollen and the right side of my face is numb. I cannot see my ns until December 28th. I am waiting to get an earlier appointment. This is scary. I just want it all to go away. Good luck.
Hope,
I am sorry you are experiencing these symptoms this long after surgery. Were you fine up until now? Do you experience chiari like headaches now? My neck became swollen all across the back up to underneath my ears. I went to the emergency room because the pain was so bad I could not take it.
Hope said:
I am a 1 1/2 years post op and I have fluid build up. Did not have any problems like yours after surgery. Neck is swollen and the right side of my face is numb. I cannot see my ns until December 28th. I am waiting to get an earlier appointment. This is scary. I just want it all to go away. Good luck.
I was ok until now. I did notice things were not right but did not know. I am starting to get headaches again. The nausea is there but not bad. I am afraid the symptoms are getting bad fast. Not sure if can make it to the 28th. The dizziness has got worse. Everybody says relax but hard to do with work. I am going to see how tomorrow goes may end up in emergency room.
I know I’m late replying to this post but I had a similar situation. When I got releasedone after my decompression, 3 days later I started leaking fluid from my incision. My surgeon told me to go to the ER asap. They did a CT scan and it looked like an abscess (not sure it really was though). The next morning I had an emergency surgery to clean everything out and to place a drain. The drain remained for 2 weeks and it had to be emptied every night and fluid was measured. Once the drainage slowed, it was removed. I’ve been good ever simce. The 2nd surgery was hell but I haven’t had problems since except for I’m still in a lot of pain from the surgery and coming off pain meds. If you can, let us know how you are doing.