Two and a half weeks ago, I had brain surgery. Maybe it's a cliche, but it feels surreal. A week ago I wasn't getting up much, hadn't showered, and hadn't even gone up the stairs in my house. 8 days post-op I was in the worst pain of my life. That day every breath came out in a moan and my head felt like it was going to explode. But I got through that experience and now I'm doing so, so much better.
The surgical team says my incision looks great and I seem to be progressing very well. At this point I'm free to do whatever I am able to handle. Honestly I feel strong and healthy as far as I can go up and down stairs with relative ease, walking through my house is fine, standing and sitting feels normal, etc. However, I do get out of breath very easily, and breathing itself feels a bit strained at times. My normal double vision is also worse since the surgery but I understand this to be a common side effect which should resolve in time.
I will write another post in the future detailing the entire surgery day if anyone is interested. But here's just a few details. I checked in at the hospital at 5:30 am and then went through a whole pre-surgery routine, meeting some of my surgical team. At 7:30 am I was wheeled into the OR and by 7:35 I was out. When next I woke, it was 2 pm. The actual surgery, I'm told, didn't start until about 9:45. This is because they had to put in a lot of tubes and lines to monitor all kinds of things while I was out.
Once I was awake, they wheeled me over to imaging for a CT scan, and then I was taken to the neuro ICU. I was there for about 24 hours and then moved to a normal hospital room which I was in for another 24 hours. On Friday, two days after my surgery, they gave me the OK to come home. It seemed much too early in a way, but I was able to get to and from the bathroom without help, and I seemed to be recovering faster than expected, so I opted to return home.
Since then I have had a lot of ups and downs, but I am feeling better every day. My pain is manageable and I believe it will only get better with time. As for the reason behind the surgery, it's simply too early to tell, but I believe this really has changed my life. From now on I will always think of my life as pre- and post- brain surgery. :)
