update my mother had surgery

[wbcn34]

hello my mother is finally home  she dosent to eat to much and her pressere is still going up and down she almost passed put today
we are going to start having a visting nusrse come the house   she still feels dizzy i know that will pass in due time    and i am hoping that everyone in here that just went through surgery i hope all is well     

[leapyrtwins]

There may be a couple of reasons why your mother doesn't want to eat too much - she may still be nauseaus and/or she may have a metallic taste in her mouth and things just don't taste good.  I had both these problems after my surgery, and today (about 9 weeks post op) I still sometimes get a funny metallic taste in my mouth.  You should encourage her to eat so she doesn't get too weak; being strong will help her in her recovery.  The dizziness should get better in time - when she walks have her focus on an object ahead of her and once she reaches that object, have her focus on another object in the distance, etc., etc., etc.  Looking down while she walks will most likely make her feel more dizzy.

Recovery can take time and it can be frustrating - patience is key.  Good luck to her.

Jan
     

[TP]

I agree with Jan, make sure your mom eats. I love to eat but when I got home I ate very little at first. My mouth did not want to hold food in and food just didn't taste the same. I did lose weight but after I started eating I started to get my strength back and started to feel better. Rest is so important and I believe plenty of fluids as well. Meat was hard for me to eat and digest so make sure she is eating soft food. I enjoyed eating sweats for some reason that tasted pretty good compared to other foods.

[sgerrard]

Hi wbcn34,
It is good news that your mother is home now, that is progress. I'm sure it is hard for you to be patient, but she will get better every day and week, it is probably a little slower since she is elderly. Make sure you take care of yourself as well, it can take a lot out of you to standby and watch all the time. You are obviously very dedicated to her, and that will make a big difference to her in the days ahead.
Best wishes to you both,
Steve

[wbcn34]

hi everyone thanks for the feedback  yes i keep telling her to eat so i get on her nerves so she will she said her throat feels scatchie
and it a littlle hard to swollow a nurse is going to come every other day she feels faint die for her being dizzy its alot of work but things will get better down the road

[leapyrtwins]

So, how's mom doing?

Can she swallow better?  Is her dizziness improving?

Update us on her recovery, please 

 

[wbcn34]

hello she is getting a little better by the day  she dosent feel as dizzy  her blood pressure is going up a litlle bit she has her balance 
a little bit she still dosent feel like eating her taste bud is still off she feels a little down  but i am sure things will be fine   

[leapyrtwins]

Sounds like she's right on course; recovery takes time.  Getting better each day is a good sign.  The taste buds may never get back to normal, or may take a long time, but she'll get used to it.

Glad to hear she's doing fine.  Let her know she's not alone.  There are a lot of us "posties" and we know just what she's going through 

[wbcn34]

leapyrtwins how are you feeling?

[leapyrtwins]

My taste buds are still "odd" and my metallic mouth hasn't disappeared - I'm not certain it ever will.  My balance is much better, but this last week I didn't get a lot of sleep, and it was evident in my walking; not a major balance issue, just a subtle change.   Dizziness is gone except for times when I move my head from side to side very fast. 

We had some wet and humid weather recently, which interestingly enough, made my head feel a little sore.  My left eye still gets tired faster than my right (AN was on the left) and it tends to get dry, but eye drops rectify that situation.  I get dry mouth if I talk a lot, but drinking more water helps that.  I have no tinnitus, but I never did before surgery either.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining.  All in all, I feel pretty darn good and I realize how truly lucky I am. 

Yesterday I realized that I can almost park my car between the lines in a parking lot.   

Tomorrow I'm planning on calling the neurotologist's office to schedule a BAHA demonstration.  I'm anxious to get started on that process.   

Thanks for asking,

Jan

[wbcn34]

hi jan thats good your feeling better  it will take time  take your time and relax  were was your tumor? my mother was in the inner ear hers was between the balance and the brain hers was presing on the nerve and it was causing so much pain in her mouth  my cousins was on the brain his grew back 2 years after his surgery he had radtion done   this tumor seems to run in the family   did they remove all of your tumor??   diana

[leapyrtwins]

Diana -

my tumor was entirely removed.  It was in my inner ear canal pressing on the 7th and 8th cranial nerves.

My facial nerve was not damaged, however, I lost all hearing in my left ear.  The tumor had wrapped itself around the hearing nerve and in order to remove it completely, they had to "sacrifice" the hearing nerve.

Jan

[wbcn34]

hi jan are you going to get BAHA  next?  is that radtion?     thats good thay removed all of tumer 

[leapyrtwins]

Yes, I am planning on getting a BAHA (bone attached hearing aide) and will be having a demonstration with my neurotologist in a few weeks.

From what I understand, it will help me with my SSD (single sided deafness).  It's am outpatient surgical procedure that involves peeling back the skin on the scalp and implanting a titanium screw into the skull (actually a bone behind the ear, I think).  After the screw calcifies to the bone - in about 3 months time - a hearing device (aide) can be attached to the screw.  I say "screw", but actually it's similar to a snap - so technically the device is snapped to the head.

It sounds a little "grizzly", but I've seen people who have them and it's actually not too bad.  The device is small and everyone I've talked to who has one is very satisfied.  My other options would be a cros aide (similar to a conventional hearing aide) and a TransEar (a little better than a conventional hearing aide).   

[wbcn34]

hi jan thats a good idea to talk to the surgen first you should also find out how long it takes to heal from that its amazing on what they can do now for that types of tumors  and what i am hearing they are very rare and look what it causes and thank god they are not cancer  what were thefirst signs of yours