I'm going in this afternoon for my pre-surgery appt - fill out paperwork, consent forms, get a physical, ekg, eeg, bloodwork...Now what should I expect from all that? I know what an EKG is, I've had a number of those - I have no clue what an EEG is and haven't had time to google it, I figure someone here would be able to tell me. What will they do when they give me a physical? Is the bloodwork and ekg/eeg THE physical? Should I be prepared to pee in a cup? Will I have to donate some of my blood to be use during the surgery? ...I hate needles and am chronically dehydrated so nurses always have trouble finding a vein and I'm trying to drink a TON of water this morning to try and fix that situation...
Any advice is appreciated - I'm not too worried about surgery but I do have a list of questions ready for today because i am pretty worried about recovery.
Thanks, I've already gone through all the links on the resources page, and actually that link wasn't even as helpful as some other websites I've found on google. There are chiari clinics that actually post their recovery instructions online which are SUPER helpful at giving me an idea of what to expect after surgery...I'm just wondering specifically what all a "physical" entails before this surgery....maybe someone that had surgery recently remembers what happened? Maybe I'm making too big a deal out of it, but my NS's office just made it seem like it was a big deal and my GP even wrote me a script to take in for extra lab work to have done since they're doing lab work anyway today.
My physical was the normal physical stuff. I remember they took a several viles of blood to tests for everything from vitamin levels to pregnancy. They tested for MRSA. I'm don't remember a urine test but there may have been one.
Thanks Diana, I'm reading it's unlikely I'll have to donate blood...
Another question - is there a list somewhere of items I should/might want to pack for the hospital? I don't want to forget anything...How do you take your medications to the hospital - I've never had major surgery before or stayed in hosptial, does a nurse have to administer my normal daily meds since I'll be under their care? I don't think I take anything that I'll have to stop before/after surgery. GERD med, BC, Anti-depressant, and daily migraine pill that I'm on a high dose and had to wean on...so I don't think they can just stop/restart any of my meds.
When I registered at the hospital, I gave them a list of all the meds/vitamins I was taking. This information was in my chart so the hospital gave me all my meds. If they have not already told you to take a stool softner, you may want to ask about that. They had me start taking Miralex 2 weeks before surgery and I continued taking for 6 weeks after surgery.
There have been several very good discussions about what to take to hospital. I'll see if I can find them.
Here is what I took that I actually used: my own pillow, comfy pajama bottoms, slippers with a good rubber sole, toothbrush and baby wipes. I had pony tail holders to pull my hair up high on my head for surgery.
Ponytail holders!!! I can't believe I didn't think of that one!! hahaha, thanks!! I don't own any slippers...I guess I better go buy a pair!
So wait, did you have to give the hospital your meds or did they already have all of them to just give them to you? I guess it would make sense that they would have celexa, nexium, topamax, all very popular medications, but generic brand of birth control pills?? lol, not that I need to be taking them during that time, but I just worry not taking them would screw with my body...I've been taking this exact pill every day (except one week a month I don't take any pills not even sugar or iron pills like some packs have), for about 3-4 years straight. I just don't need to mess up anything with my body during such a crucial time when I need to heal, you know? If my body is going hey, where's this and this that I usually get from that pill, then it's not going to be focusing on healing...or maybe I'm being paranoid :p
I pray you have a good hospital staff because I didn't have a pleasant experience in recovery and as far as pre-op all I remember is blood work and paper work. Sorry not much help.
Aw, I'm sorry to hear that, kmgtm. Usually paperwork is not to be done in recovery because you're on pain medication and you're not coherent enough to do it!! That is odd to me. I'm skeptical because I was told only 2 nights in the hospital, but my paperwork does say that I will not be released until I am able to do a certain number of things on my own. (I don't have the list at the moment).
kmgtm said:
I pray you have a good hospital staff because I didn't have a pleasant experience in recovery and as far as pre-op all I remember is blood work and paper work. Sorry not much help.
I made it through my pre-op tests - but they didn't do an EEG, so I have to call tomorrow and see what's up. Here's what happened:
I got to the Neuroscience Center and saw my surgeon's PA, she went over the basic stuff, current meds, how i've been feeling, questions/concerns, did a brief neuro test and listened to my breathing, then she walked me out to my NS's secretary who told me that the lab was CLOSED! Ugh, I was so annoyed and did not want to rescheduled, I'm almost out of leave time with work! Fortunately there is a very large health campus that is associated with both local hospitals in our area. They are open 24/7 and do tests until late in the evening so I went over there and had my bloodwork, EKG and chest x-ray done. I could've sworn I was supposed to get an EEG so I'm going to call tomorrow and double check about that.
Also I was told to buy this CHG stuff from my NS's office for $5 and wash my neck with it the night before and morning of my surgery - I'll use the whole bottle in 2 washes. It's some sort of antibacterial wash.
That last thing I have to add is that I found out exactly what they are doing to me, and I'm not sure what it means, lol - My paperwork says - Chiari decompression, occiput/C1/C2 laminectomy, dural patch. I mean, I get the jist of it - it's chiari surgery, the right kind of chiari surgery to "fix" me...but I'm still not sure in non-doctor speak what they're going to do to me...so unless someone here can explain it, I'll be doing research tomorrow!
Thank you. The pre-op (before surgery) is where they did the paperwork and bloodwork. I spent a week in the hospital even though they told me three days.
doodledee216 said:
Aw, I'm sorry to hear that, kmgtm. Usually paperwork is not to be done in recovery because you're on pain medication and you're not coherent enough to do it!! That is odd to me. I'm skeptical because I was told only 2 nights in the hospital, but my paperwork does say that I will not be released until I am able to do a certain number of things on my own. (I don't have the list at the moment).
kmgtm said:
I pray you have a good hospital staff because I didn't have a pleasant experience in recovery and as far as pre-op all I remember is blood work and paper work. Sorry not much help.
In laments terms the way it was explained to me is that they are going to go through your neck to get to the back of your skull and remove a bone so that spinal fluid could flow better and use some type of skin to patch it. I hope that helps. You do want to have an up- do because they will have to shave some of your hair.
doodledee216 said:
I made it through my pre-op tests - but they didn't do an EEG, so I have to call tomorrow and see what's up. Here's what happened:
I got to the Neuroscience Center and saw my surgeon's PA, she went over the basic stuff, current meds, how i've been feeling, questions/concerns, did a brief neuro test and listened to my breathing, then she walked me out to my NS's secretary who told me that the lab was CLOSED! Ugh, I was so annoyed and did not want to rescheduled, I'm almost out of leave time with work! Fortunately there is a very large health campus that is associated with both local hospitals in our area. They are open 24/7 and do tests until late in the evening so I went over there and had my bloodwork, EKG and chest x-ray done. I could've sworn I was supposed to get an EEG so I'm going to call tomorrow and double check about that.
Also I was told to buy this CHG stuff from my NS's office for $5 and wash my neck with it the night before and morning of my surgery - I'll use the whole bottle in 2 washes. It's some sort of antibacterial wash.
That last thing I have to add is that I found out exactly what they are doing to me, and I'm not sure what it means, lol - My paperwork says - Chiari decompression, occiput/C1/C2 laminectomy, dural patch. I mean, I get the jist of it - it's chiari surgery, the right kind of chiari surgery to "fix" me...but I'm still not sure in non-doctor speak what they're going to do to me...so unless someone here can explain it, I'll be doing research tomorrow!
Oh, sorry, I misread what you were saying!! Yeah, I'm worrying I'll end up in the hospital longer and they already have me scheduled to get the staples out July 2nd - one week after surgery - is that normal??? I'm reading that my c1/2 laminectomy w/ dural patch is the normal chiari surgery so I'm very pleased about that. (who am i kidding I couldn't wait til tomorrow to do research!)
Yes, I got my staples out after I got out of the hospital and that was a week. and yes, that surgery is normal that is the same one I had. Do you have a Chiari neurosurgeon doing it or a neurosurgeon?
doodledee216 said:
Oh, sorry, I misread what you were saying!! Yeah, I'm worrying I'll end up in the hospital longer and they already have me scheduled to get the staples out July 2nd - one week after surgery - is that normal??? I'm reading that my c1/2 laminectomy w/ dural patch is the normal chiari surgery so I'm very pleased about that. (who am i kidding I couldn't wait til tomorrow to do research!)
I have a "regular" neurosurgeon, lol, not a chiari specialist, but he's done 2 dozen chiari surgeries over the past 11 years and was an on-call ER trauma surgeon so this should be cake to him compared to the messes he's seen. As soon as he saw my 14mm chiari on the MRI pics from last October he said it was "impressive" and he would recommend surgery - he didn't change his opinion when the new MRI's came back in May and showed I'm now at 23mm.
That's good. The doctor's were pretty surprised that I was doing as well as I was. I can't remember the size of it. All I can say is nothing but God, hate to be graphic but make sure you have something for your bowels because they are seriously going to back up on you if you don't lol
That's what I'm hearing!!! hahaha! I have that flavorless oily stuff I'm thinking maybe I'll take that a few days before...and then i guess they give u a stool softener at the hospital if you can't go!
They will, but you will probably need extra lol doodledee216 said:
That's what I'm hearing!!! hahaha! I have that flavorless oily stuff I'm thinking maybe I'll take that a few days before...and then i guess they give u a stool softener at the hospital if you can't go!
This might be a silly question (or a question for another thread) but since you are having surgery on the back of your head, how do you sleep after surgery if you commonly sleep on your back? I assume only options are on the side? Is that comfortable? How do you even sleep after surgery on your head, or are you so tired is it not a problem? Very curious about this aspect...