For a while there, I was trying to write a blog entry every day describing how my recovery’s going. But it’s been a few days, so I’ll just try to bring readers up to date.
On Tuesday, I did lots of resting. Beth’s nature hike Monday wore me out, and I wanted to build up my strength to travel home. That’s because Wednesday was our planned flight back to Colorado from Louisiana. So Tuesday was just hanging around in the hotel and packing.
Wednesday morning we got up early, had breakfast, and checked out. Then we headed across the causeway (the bridge across Lake Pontchartrain to New Orleans) to the airport. After some challenges finding the rental car return, we eventually got our bags checked in (including one that, at 69 pounds, was significantly overweight so we had to pay extra). I asked for one of the little blue cards saying I’m disabled and allowing us to get on the plane first. So we got two seats in the very first row, which was nice. First ones on the plane, and first ones off.
The flight was uneventful, and due to a lack of winds at altitude we arrived ahead of schedule. After landing, we got our bags and then had a town car drive us straight from the airport home. I didn’t want to have to deal with the Super Shuttle driving us who-knows-where and knew I’d just want to get home ASAP, so we paid a few extra bucks and got door-to-door service, which was nice. Since the driver took the toll road, we were actually home at just after 1 PM Mountain time. A great journey!
The airplane didn’t bother my ears too much. No pain or anything, but my right ear did pop a LOT as we were going up and down. Some of the popping was coming from the usual method, through the Eustachian tube. But some of it was coming through the little hole my doctor cut in the ear drum just to make sure. (That hole will heal over in a few weeks, but until then I have to take ear drops 3 times a day to make sure it doesn’t get infected.) My ear was definitely “tired” by the end of the day, and I started heading for bed by 8:50 PM.
Today marks 2 weeks since my surgery. I’m catching up on a bunch of stuff from being gone for over 2 weeks – household finances, unpacking, etc. Basically, it’s another day of low activity and healing.
The time of rapid improvements has passed, I think. For the first week or so I was hitting some personal milestone in my recovery every day – first day with no dizziness, first time walking outdoors, first time peeing like a boy again, etc. I think for the next few weeks it’s going to be slow, almost imperceptible progress while the swelling in my ear continues to go down, the jaw muscle that got cut continues to heal, and my hearing continues to get a little better each day.
I don’t feel ready to go back to work yet (can’t concentrate well enough, and need lots of naps) but I can imagine going back part time in another couple weeks. So for now I need to do lots of resting and let my body continue to heal up and get normal again.
And that’s how I’m feeling at 2 weeks post-op. I’ll end this post with a photo I just scanned today. It’s a picture of the inside of my head as my surgeon works on me. Unfortunately, I can’t make out the details well enough to understand everything we see here. To me, it looks like it could be a scene from the butcher shop. 🙂
(let me know if you want to see the full size high resolution version of this)
This photo is oriented the wrong way–should be horizontal. I believe the white blobs are the surgeon’s gloved fingers, and you can see clamps holding back the brain and the ear, though I can’t remember which one was which.
The pointy metal thing in the middle of the large hole is right next to the malleum (hammer; one of the bones in the middle ear) on the left and the superior canal on the right. Dr. Gianoli said the brain was sticking to the malleum and had to be peeled away. Then he had to get an extra piece of bone because he didn’t plane on having to seal off both areas.
Wow, if what you’re saying is true, and I’m interpreting this photo correctly, the hole in my head was massive! It’s huge compared to how it looked on the MRI, and I have never seen anyone else’s photo with that big of a gap. I’ll have to talk to Dr. G about this next time I see him, because it looks like he must have totally rebuilt that part of my skull, not just patched it.
Dear Todd,
Nice photo. Glad that you are back home and that the plane trip was not too painful
Take lots of naps!
Dorothy
Todd,
The craniotomy seems appropriate to me. Part of my work when I was employed by BrainLAB was to observe brain surgery. I also helped insruct surgeons on the use of Image Guided Surgery equipment; sort of like a GPS for the brain. Your surgery reminds me of skull base surgery, where the brain is not directly invovled, but is definitely affected. The fact that you have recovered so well and can articulate your experience is clear evidence that you have a great surgeon and a good outcome. Next time we sit for a burrito at Chipotle, we should discuss this in more detail.
Cheers,
Daren
Well I’m glad it looks like skull base surgery, because that’s what it was! In part, at least. The surgeon was repairing a big hole in the mastoid bone that was causing my brain and my inner ear to be far too intimate. 🙂
And I’d be glad to have a burrito at Chipotle and discuss this more. But when have we ever had a burrito at Chipotle together?