Well, it's the first time I've felt well enough to sit at the computer, so here I am.
Surgery was November 5 - all "uncomplicated and uneventful" as per the surgeon to my husband. :)
I've been off the percocets for five days now, just taking naproxen for the muscle pain.
Still very dizzy when upright, so I spend almost all my day in bed. Can't sit for more than ten minutes or so or the backs of my thighs cramp and spasm - surgeon says there is a possibility of nerve irritation from blood in the sub-arachnoid space during the surgery and that it'll pass as I heal.
I had a numb patch on my scalp for 7 days, which is now a painful/tender patch, so I hope that means that it's healing.
Clair, so glad to hear from you and so glad you are taking it easy. I had the scalp pain and numbness, actually still do, made it so hard to comb my hair.
Jenn - does that mean the scalp issue is probably permanent? The resident surgeon I talked to had "no good explanation" (his words) It's annoying, but liveable, as it's towards the top and I don't have to sleep on it.
Mine is slowly going away. I’m 3 mos post op and still have some numbness and sensitivity with some needle like pains on occasion- but all in all about 70% less at this point.
Headache came on a couple of days ago, right side above the incision line and behind my right eye. Have a lump like an overly tense muscle right where the pain starts - maybe a migraine from tension? If I roll the wrong way on my pillow and hit that spot it sends a lightning bolt right through my head.
Going to see my family doctor tomorrow to get the staples out, will discuss it with her then. Don't think it's anything serious, but it's not fun.
Thank you all for your your thoughts and prayers. It means a lot to have you all here for me - I would have been lost going into this if I hadn't found you!
Sorry about the headache! The muscles do get really tense along the incision and can spasm up pretty badly. Did your doctor give you any muscle relaxers?
Saw my doctor, she gave me Flexeril to ease the muscles in my neck, it's really helped with the headache. Thank goodness. The thing that gets me is I asked about muscle relaxants before I left the hospital - I told the surgeon when he was getting ready to discharge me that I didn't want to take the Percocets, could I take muscle relaxants instead? And he shrugged his shoulders and went and wrote me a script for Percocet anyway.
Hindsight: I should have made an appointment right away to see my family doctor and got the prescription for the muscle relaxants right away instead of waiting all that time for the staple removal appointment to roll around.
Live and learn.
Also - now with the Flexeril in my system I can do my range of motion stretches without pain, which is a good thing.
