They did at least end up taking the catheter out on the Friday so I was able to get up and go to the bathroom myself. The downside was that I had to urinate in what the hospital staff called a "hat" because they still needed to measure my fluid inputs and outputs. Oh well, at least I wasn't measuring someone else's pee.
Saturday morning arrived and the neuro-surgical resident who had taken part in my surgery asked me if I was ready to get the packing out. I did not even hesitate. YES. Having that packing taken out was simultaneously the best and the worst feeling. It was excruciatingly painful and you do not even want to know what else came out with it (unless you are a disgusting human being in which case I do not want to talk to you). The instant relief of not having a foreign object jammed up as far as it would go in my nose was so satisfying though. Plus I could breathe through my nose for about two seconds before becoming congested.
Another part of my hospital stay that I did not enjoy was the heparin shots. These hurt. A lot. My nurses did not even sugar coat if, they just said that it would be painful. They are also necessary to prevent blood clots in patients after surgery since most people are not very active for the first little while. I tried to just breathe through them and not make a big deal out of it, it's not the nurses fault it feels like they're injecting acid into my body. I apparently impressed one of my night nurses by not making any noise because he told me he's had grown men cry when given that shot. What can I say, I'm a tough lady.
The rest of my hospital stay was pretty uneventful. I ended up being moved out of the step down unit into a room on the floor where I was not monitored as closely. I was encouraged to walk around more so I went for a journey to the cafeteria with some visitors that afternoon.
I did get a glimpse of the complications that could have occurred with my surgery while I was in the hospital. My roommate when I was moved to the ward had had the same procedure that I had except she ended up with a cerebral spinal fluid leak after surgery (this is a very real possibility when there's surgery that involves cutting open someone's skill). One way to manage a CSF leak is to insert a spinal drain and relieve the pressure that would cause the CSF to seep from the surgical opening. Unfortunately, this process can sometimes cause bacterial infections which is what happened to my roommate. She had bacterial meningitis and was being treated with intense anti-biotics for that which meant she had been in the hospital for 12 days. It made me feel guilty for recovering so well in contrast.
By Sunday morning, I was cleared to be discharged. I wasn't in much pain, I wasn't voiding too much urine, I didn't have CSF leaking out of my nose or down the back of my throat, my vision was fine, and I was feeling relatively OK (other than still not being able to breathe through my nose, the discharge from my nose. having the occasional headache, being tired, and feeling like someone had beaten me).
I have spent the past week out of the hospital at my parents' place in Ste. Rose because I'm not supposed to do anything too strenuous (no lifting anything more than 10 pounds and no housework) for two weeks. I feel like I make a lot of progress every day and anyone who doesn't know that I had surgery likely would assume there's nothing wrong with me right now. In fact, everyone keeps commenting on how good I look. This is nice but I almost wish I had an impressive scar to show what I went through eight days ago because it was still quite the ordeal. I guess I do have this one bruise to show off.
The issues I'm having now: fatigue (I think the steroids I'm taking are affecting my sleep patterns), breathing through my nose is difficult and hurts, occasional headaches. The healing of my nasal septum is uncomfortable and disgusting. There is a lot of "crusting" occurring that makes it difficult to breathe and also causes some tenderness. I have nasal sinus rinses that I now have to do three times a day and I hate them even though I know how necessary they are.
The next step for me is follow up appointments. I see an endocrinologist in a couple weeks to assess my hormone function as there is a chance that was affected by surgery. In about a month I will see the ENT, neuro-surgeon, and neuro-ophthalmologist and then I will get another MRI in three months. I'll keep the blog updated on those appointments as I go.
The support I have received from Rob (special shout out to the man who has taken all of this in stride and been there for me every step of the way, saying that as long as I am good he is good), my family, friends, coworkers, and even people who I haven't spoken to in years has been overwhelming to say the least. I am so thankful for all of it, especially people taking the time to read about my experiences and cheering me on.
I am so in love with all the amazing and thoughtful gifts I have received along the way. Here are some of them:
No comments:
Post a Comment