Things I wish I had of known before surgery...

[Lupy]

Hey guys, have just been chatting to a few different people about my up coming surgery (no date yet) and have found out you end up with rather large, nasty bruises on your arms from the drips they put in. I was quite happy to find out about this beforehand so I didn't freak out when it happened. Are there any other things that people wish they had known about prior to surgery? Things that the doctors might neglect to mention or think are 'not a big deal'?


Cheerios,

Lupy

[Kathy M]

Hi Lupy!

I still have some visible marks on my arms from the IVs in January (the arterial line and the regular IVs) but I have awful veins and bruise easy!

I really wasn't prepared for the double vision but it was only a nuisance for a few days.  My eyes didn't track very quickly and that was a surprise to me.   I also wasn't prepared for my neck to be as swollen and sore, but again, minor annoyance and short-lived.  Thanks to this group and lots of good reading materials from ANA, I was very prepared for my surgery.

I had even packed well, thanks to lots of great advice from folks here who had gone before!

Good luck and positive thoughts as you wait for your surgery date!!!

Kathy

[MAlegant]

IV bruises, a catheter when you are first in the ICU, the importance of pillows, how wonderful it can feel to brush your teeth and clean your face, and how difficult it was to find a comfortable position to sleep in.  That one really killed me.  Of course, it would have been good to be warned about nerve pain but I think that's a rather rare complication.
Best
Marci

[tenai98]

Because I wasnt up anf walkinh right away, evey 8 hrs I got a needle in the  stomach to prevent clots...I felt like a pin cusion and was left with bruises...but i didnt hurt
JO

[Lupy]

Ahh catheter, now thats something I was unaware of! Do you think the ANA would send reading materials to Australia?

Lupy

[bell]

Hi Lupy,
Let me add a few things:
Cathetor for 3days after surgery
Crackers, crackers and crackers...when you take all of the pills every 4 hours, it helps to eat something little.  The hospital had unsalted saltines dry...
  saltines, cheezits, animal crackers really helped me.
Pillows under back and sides to help be comfortable and sleep.
Take the meds, you want to be proactive before the pain gets worse.
Move your body and not your head, use legs to bend.
If I think of more I will write later.
Good luck and will keep you in thoughts and prayers.
Bell

[Migoi]

If you are a regular coffee drinker, make sure you continue with a source of caffeine. The coffee was terrible in the ICU so I didn't drink it. On day 2 post surgery I got a withdrawal headache. No problem except it caused them to wonder if I wasn't leaking somewhere. Luckily they let me cure the "brain leak" with a diet pepsi instead of the more medical solutions they were contemplating.

If you wear glasses take a small screwdriver to remove one of the legs/arms so you can wear your glasses with the Princess Leia bandage you will have. While being semi-drugged, adjusting to some new sensory inputs is disorienting...doing so with completely fuzzy vision makes things waaaay worse.

Tim B

[Lupy]

Thanks these are all great replies. I think the crackers suggestion is good as pills tend to upset my tummy! But, are you able to eat straight away after surgery? And do you wake up with any tubes still in your face/nose/throat?

Lupy

[Dan]

Lupy
I had no tubes when I woke up and ate something like chocolate cream of wheat 6 hours after surgery.  The nurses in ICU fed it to me I then slept until the next morning and ate bread and jelly for breakfast.  ( I also had 2 cups of very good coffee with breakfast)  I think this is something that is very different though from person to person and OP to OP.

Dan in Germany

[Migoi]

Lupy,

   When I woke up, no tubes from the head area at all. A catheter, IV line, some type of monitor on left index finger, and a bunch of electrodes taped to my chest. In thinking about it, if I had known about the electrodes, I would have shaved my chest prior to surgery. I'm a bit furry and everytime I shifted position there was a not really very pleasant tugging of my torsal hair. I'm thinking that particular problem won't apply to you though...

   ..take care.. tim b

[leapyrtwins]

Lupy -

I had no bruises, but like Kathy M found the double vision unsettling.  I didn't realize it was a possibility.

I also wasn't prepared for the feeling when I woke up post op.  I don't want to frighten you, but some have likened the feeling to being hit by a Mack truck and I'd have to agree.  My neurotologist tried to prepare me for this feeling but it's kind of something you have to experience yourself to appreciate    I'd never had a major surgery before this, so I really had nothing to compare it to.

As far as the catheter goes, I asked my doc to make sure it was inserted after I was put to sleep and he agreed.  Taking it out when you're awake is no big deal.

I'm amazed that Dan was eating so soon - and real food, too.  I was nauseaus for many days post op.  Couldn't eat at all.

But like he said - everyone is different.

Good luck with your surgery,

Jan

Oh, I don't know if the ANA will send literature to Australia.  But it doesn't hurt to ask.  You can contact them through the main page of this website.

[Cheryl R]

There shouldn't be any face or down the nose ones.      There can be an occ time someone may wake up with the throat tube in but is not the ususal way and you can ask a dr when do the pre op workup.            I have never woke up with it with my more than one  NF2 AN surgeries.                   There will be an oxygen cannula in your nose and may stay the whole time while in ICU.  You will have the tighter stockings on plus some some vinyl type ones wrapped around the leg which blow up and then down to keep the blood flowing well in the legs so no blood clots.              Those stayed on till we were up walking on a regular basis.  Some people have them on the whole time.          Each hospital and dr has their various protocols.            I always had some episodes of having some nausea for a time.      Then work up from clear liquids to food.       I usually had almost no appetite while in the hospital and that varies with people.         Then not much at home and only certain foods tasted ok as the taste may be off for a time.   The big tight dressing is annoying.                 The Univ of Iowa changes that every AM which felt very good.         That also varies how long you wear it.               My catheter always stayed in till they saw you were able to get up and walk without difficulty which is my case was right away.            That really varies with everyone too.   
        It helps to know ahead what to expect.                                     Cheryl R

[Migoi]

Cheryl's post reminded me... be prepared to do the "neurological functioning exam" about 12 gazillion times. It basically involves the doctor looking at your eyes with a flashlight, having you squeeze his/her fingers with both hands, scrunch your face up, and push against his hands with your feet.

While it is possible that I only had to do that for the doctors actually involved in my case, since there were about 12 of them in the room apparently, I'm fairly certain that a whole bunch of folks not actually involved in my case asked me to do it. I think random new doctors (they all seemed to look REALLY young) would walk by the door, see this huge bandage on my head and come in to do the "neurological functioning exam". It was like...ooh, ooh, training aid, training aid time or something.

It was actually amusing after a bit... I started imitating the Great Carnak.. wait, let me guess.. ou want me to squeeze your fingers and scrunch up my face..

..take care.. tim b

[Cheryl R]

Plus the nurses do it all night too!     Once you are in a regular room there is usually the every 4 hrs vitals too even in the middle of the night.   Plus some meds thru the IV at any hour.           Home was so nice to get back to.      I could never sleep well though for a couple weeks every time afterwards and we have had the fun pillow discussion of trying all kinds to feel right.   
                                                   Cheryl R

[Jim Scott]

Tim:

I didn't see my doctor very often during my hospital stay (just under 5 days) because he had to go out of town for a seminar (he was a speaker) two days after my surgery, although his assistant (a neurosurgeon) did stop by once or twice and eventually authorized my discharge after a quick neurological exam.  However, as Cheryl mentioned, the nurses (who, to my then-63-year-old eyes, all looked like they should still be high school) must have had me perform the "follow my finger", flashlight-in-the-eyes, "smile" and "do you know where you are?" routine about every 3 hours (it seemed).  I also had my blood sugar checked at least twice per day, even though it was fine (I don't have diabetes) and all of my vital signs were perfectly normal, even excellent, (BP 128/78, Pulse rate 70) considering my age and the traumatic operation I had just endured.  For anyone getting prepared for AN removal surgery, you should know that the seemingly constant neurological function checks and so on, especially when you're in the ICU, are somewhat annoying - but necessary.  I survived - and so does everyone else.  In a perverse way, it's almost a motivation to get ambulatory and qualified for discharge.  Maybe that's the idea.  Hmmmmm. 

Jim