Recovery from Surgery Pt 1.
It's been nearly two weeks since I had a Pituitary Adenoma removed from the Pituitary Stem in my brain. This was probably one of the scariest moments in my life but in short I was a ticking time bomb, apparently. For anyone unfamiliar with this kind of surgery, it's probably the least invasive brain surgery you can have, with an ENT moving a camera and tools up your nostrils and drilling a hole.in the sella, the bone protecting the Pituitary Gland.
Once that's complete, the Neurosurgeon jumps on and removes the tumor through - you guessed it! - your nostrils. He then seals the bone back up with a special glue and gives it back to he ENT, who slowly removes everything from your nostrils, and packs up the sinus passages to avoid spinal fluid leakage, or even brain fluid leakage.
My surgery was only four hours. Less than I'd anticipated. I remember waking up and being told that the tumor was all gone. When my mom and girlfriend came to see me in ICU my mother reported to me that according to my neurosurgeon, my recovery might be faster than expected, as the tumor was smaller than the MRI's showed.
My nurses were all over me when I arrived in ICU. By night time, I began to feel the congestion building up from the nasal packing. I could only breathe through my mouth for a while. By the next day, physical therapists came to check my strength and found I was able to walk on my own. No assistance, not even with the staircase to nowhere.
Thus, by the next day I was removed from ICU and was given my own room, and therefore the freedom to walk the hallways as I pleased. I'd be encouraged to anyway. At this time I felt a shit ton of pressure in my head, but never any headaches. I think I know why but it's somewhat immaterial.
A day later, despite being told by my neurosurgeon's underlings that I might stay an extra day so they could check all of one level, I was sent home later that afternoon.
The next day, after FINALLY sleeping without disturbances from night nurses looking for vitals or blood work, I felt like I was hit by a fucking truck. I lounged around on my girlfriend's couch all day. No regrets. But the next day, I slowly got to work on my recovery. More to come...
Once that's complete, the Neurosurgeon jumps on and removes the tumor through - you guessed it! - your nostrils. He then seals the bone back up with a special glue and gives it back to he ENT, who slowly removes everything from your nostrils, and packs up the sinus passages to avoid spinal fluid leakage, or even brain fluid leakage.
My surgery was only four hours. Less than I'd anticipated. I remember waking up and being told that the tumor was all gone. When my mom and girlfriend came to see me in ICU my mother reported to me that according to my neurosurgeon, my recovery might be faster than expected, as the tumor was smaller than the MRI's showed.
My nurses were all over me when I arrived in ICU. By night time, I began to feel the congestion building up from the nasal packing. I could only breathe through my mouth for a while. By the next day, physical therapists came to check my strength and found I was able to walk on my own. No assistance, not even with the staircase to nowhere.
Thus, by the next day I was removed from ICU and was given my own room, and therefore the freedom to walk the hallways as I pleased. I'd be encouraged to anyway. At this time I felt a shit ton of pressure in my head, but never any headaches. I think I know why but it's somewhat immaterial.
A day later, despite being told by my neurosurgeon's underlings that I might stay an extra day so they could check all of one level, I was sent home later that afternoon.
The next day, after FINALLY sleeping without disturbances from night nurses looking for vitals or blood work, I felt like I was hit by a fucking truck. I lounged around on my girlfriend's couch all day. No regrets. But the next day, I slowly got to work on my recovery. More to come...
