The Whirlwind

While we are waiting for the Neurosurgeon to schedule an appointment with a specialist I guess it would help if I filled you in on what some of my symptoms were at that time, now remember this was about 7 months prior to where I am now....

My migraines had become worse. I was losing my balance and had tingling and numbness in my hands and feet. The ringing in my ears was so loud that at times that is all I could hear. I couldn't walk down the hallway without running into walls. So, needless to say, I KNEW something was not right.

Ok. The appointment was made with a reknowned Neurosurgeon in Little Rock and my husband and I came to see him. He agreed that it was Chiari Malformation I (there are different stages) and that he recommended surgery and went over the risk associated with all surgeries and stated that he could not promise that all my symptoms would be gone, but that it should alleviate my migraines and I would be fine. Surgery date was set for October 5, 2010.

September, 2010 I had run out of vacation time, sick time and comp time at work. I had a decision to make and the only logical one was to resign due to medical problems because there was no way of knowing when or if I would be able to return. So I resigned. I also forgot to mention that I had started the slow, lengthy, drawn out process of filing for my disability (in July) after I realized that this whole situation was not going to be a quick and easy one to heal from. I am STILL waiting on an answer, by the way..........
Well, unable to pay the rent or our carpayment, we lost our vehicle and had to figure out where our family of five was going to live all while trying to wrap my mind around having brain surgery and processing the whirlwind that had become my life.

My mother and step father, (God love them!!!!) called and offered for us to move in with them. They live in Little Rock, surgery was set to be there and there was no way I was going to be able to travel much of anywhere after my surgery. It just made sense....so like the Beverly Hillbillies, without the money, we packed up our house, loaded the Uhaul and moved in with my mother. The saddest part of that whole thing, leaving our Harley dog with my best friend because we couldn't bring him with us....and of course, moving away from friends and my husband's family. This was all in the middle of September, 2010.......

October 5, 2010 rolls up and it is time for surgery. Please note that I am not a doctor, so all the medical jargin didn't make alot of sense to me so I am explaining it the way I had it explained to me....I was informed that I would have a strip of hair shaved off the back of my head where the incision would be made BUT that I would already be unconcious when that happened (whew....Right???), then they would make the incision, cut away a section of my skull and determine if they needed to expand the dura (lining around the brain) with either human donor or cow donor muscle, they would sew me back up and I would be in ICU for a few days, then a regular room and then home.....Sounds pretty simple, cut and dry?????

After the surgery, the surgeon goes out and talks to my multitude of family in the waiting room and tells them that the surgery went well, that he removed a section of my skull at the base of head and also the first vertabrea, but he didn't feel the need to cut into the dura because when he did the ultrasound on my brain, the blood flow was much better and he felt that was all that needed to be done. The next thing I remember is waking up in recovery, in severe pain and the nurses calling the doctor on the phone trying to figure out what he wanted to give me because my room was ready in ICU and they couldn't take me down with all the pain I was in. One of the nurses in Recovery kept telling me to take deep breaths...ok, really??? So I was trying to keep from crying and trying to breathe deep while the lady in the bed next to me was complaing that "she didn't want Morphine, she told them that before her elbow surgery".....I told the nurse to give it to me then!!!

FINALLY, my pain eased enough to move me to the ICU floor, I am sure the Recovery room nurses were relieved when that time came, but anyway.....I had family coming in two at a time to visit and trying not to cry because they knew I would cry too, I can be a big ole baby like that sometimes. I vividly remember my Daddy coming in to see me and he had tears in his eyes, my brother too. It was so good to see them there.....have to break for a minute, got a little emotional. Sorry.

....day two in ICU, I have a horrible migraine. Are you kidding me? This was the whole reason I had the surgery.
....day three I am move to a regular room, still hurting like all get out
....day four, same as day three.
....day five....I get to go home!!! Yippee!!!!