Wed. became the day from hell.

I woke up and went down stairs and I had the neck ache.  Laying back seemed to help.  I finally took some Motrin and had a sleep before noon.  I enjoyed the sleep but never completely got rid of the ache.

Basically I was grumpy all day and the ache didn't help the situation.  I began to wonder as the ache seemed to be lasting longer and longer that it might be do to a lack of hormone production.  None was prescribed form the hospital for me to take.  I had made up my mind that if Thursday was a repeat of Wed. I was calling the Endocrine doc to discuss the situation.  

Thursday was a good day.  I still get the odd neck ache but everything seems to be improving slowly.

Sunday I got in the car and drove to Corra's for breakfast and did some shopping at Wal-mart.  Not ready to return to work yet.  That 2 hours was enough of a drain.  But an indication that I am improving.

Tuesday morning it was off to see the ENT.  Again the car ride was not fun but I was able to keep breakfast down - my first Egg McMuffin since the surgery.  Dr. gave me a sinus check over and said all was healing nicely.  That would put a smile on any patient's face.

When I got home there was that neck ache again.

I did require a nap that afternoon and combined it with some Motrin as the doc suggested I should take some anti-inflamitories now that the surgery was over.  That will always make you sleep I expect.  The rest of the day was uneventful.

One of the things I wanted to do this time is record how I am feeling and what any symptoms are.

When I got home from the hospital Monday evening I felt sick.  Bouncing around in the car during rush hour is just not something I was ready for again.  Last time the car ride made me nauseous too. 

They had brought my supper to me in the hospital while we were awaiting to see if I was to be discharged and I decided to eat some of it.  Good thing as by the time we made it home to Jenn's I did not feel like eating.  The feeling involves a neck ached that upsets my stomach and may also involve a brain ache.  Jenn game me 2 extra strength tylenol and a warm cup of tee and together along with a dose of the grandkids I started to feel better.  

When evening came I was tired and did not have any trouble getting to sleep but did not sleep completely through the night.  Do I ever at this age?

They have a new operating room at the Foothills Hospital in Calgary and there are rails located on the ceiling to allow them to bring in a special MRI machine to do MRI's right in the room

For the last surgery they did an MRI on Thursday evening and did the surgery Sat. afternoon.

This time the last MRi I had was from September.  That is when they told me the tumor had grown back.  The MRi told them this.  They could see it and measure it from the MRI picture.  When they had me asleep on the table they did a MRI before the surgery and at least one part way through.

I was not awake to see it but obviously an improvement to the previous method.

The one problem is that they nicked the "plastic" bag that encompasses the brain during the removal.  This Bag keeps the brain surrounded by brain fluid and that keeps the brain working.  You don't want to loose this fluid.  This fluid also runs down to the spinal cord and helps keep that working too.  So what they did was remove some fat from around my belly and used that to patch the "bag".  I asked them why they did not remove more fat but they said that would have increase the cost of the operation.  Funny Doc. 

Then they put in a drain from my spinal cord - called a lumbar drain - and used this drain to prevent a build up pressure in the brain area while the bag healed.  They keep pressure from forming by draining 10 cc of fluid every hour.   

Apparently your brain makes 10 cc of fluid an hour.  So they drained as much as I made to keep pressure off the seal of the bag.  Got it.  This went on for 2 days.  At that time they made me lay on a bed and I was not allowed to get up for the 2 days.  Sitting up or standing up would also increase the pressures and I would have got a terrible headache too.  They kept monitoring my blood electrolytes and my pee to ensure that there was no leak.   

After 2 days trying to eat laying on a bed they let me sit up to see if anything happened to the seal.  They clamped off the drain but did not remove it yet just in case.  The lumbar drain did not hurt and if they had not told me it was there I would not have known. 

Sat up and all appears fine.  Now I could begin walking and I got to eat sitting up - yeah!  

They finally released me Monday evening and I have been getting stronger since.  Going to be at least a month before I'm back to a good level but I can at least type on the computer.

 

The drive home made me sick.  Guess your body does not like all the bouncing around during rush hour traffic.  Wed.  I was feeling bad and considered calling the doc.  Then Thursday I had the best day yet.  So I think all is going well.

One of the things that I have found that a blog is good for is to remind you of what it was like at that date and time and for this reason I have decided to continue with the this blog that I started a few years ago.

In November of 2008 I was informed that the MRI I was given in September showed that the tumor had grown back.  I was instructed to make an appointment with the neurosurgeon to discuss a date for removal.  In the middle of Nov. I met with the surgeon and saw that the tumor had grown and was the size of a walnut.  A surgery date of Jan 22 2009 was put forward and agreed to.  Here we go again.  MY energy levels had been down the last year but chemically all readings were good except cortasol I believe.  It was below the normal minimal level but still there.  So there must be pressure on the pituitary but I was not experiencing any sight problems.  No other tests were scheduled.  Just wait for the surgery date.  I was to be contacted a few weeks prior by presurgery with information.

Have a good Christmas!  Actually we spent it in the Orlando area and did have some great fun.  Got to play in a water pack in Florida again.  Disney.  MGM.  Still awaiting my pay check for the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular.  Tick Tick Tick