Hi Stormy,
I had Gantz for my mid-fossa last Aug. For me...the first few days sucked. No way to make it sound any better. I think the worse thing I delt with was the nausea, but I have had that before with another surgery - just my reaction to ansethesia. The thing that helped the most (more than any of the meds they gave me) was peppermints. Once the nausea got better I felt much better all around and got up to walk around, etc.
My surgery was 5 hrs. I think the thing that creeped me out the most was having to hop onto the operating table and still be awake (my last surgery I got the happy cocktail as they called it before I went to the OR, and I don't remember a thing.) They were all very nice though and talked to me and kept my mind thinking about other things so it wasn't too scary. (I can be a big chicken.)
The first night was in ICU. Unfortunately I had to listen to another person who had been in a motorcycle accident and transfered there from another hospital. He was very loud and kind of out of it, so it wasn't the most pleasant experience. Once I got to my room (I remember what seemed a rather bumpy ride), I didn't want any noise - no tv, no talking, I just wanted quiet and sleep. That lasted for about a day. I transfered to a private room the next day (as they had one open up) and after that things got MUCH better.
The wrap on my head was tight but not really bothersome for me. As Sue said, several drs will come in every morning and change the "turbin" on your head. I did have to tell them once to do it a little better, as it was so low it was hard to see. It's a teaching hospital, and they redid it and all was well.
I did have headaches that gradually got better after a few weeks, but took meds to deal with that. Never really had pain except for the headaches...unfortunately I'm allergic to morphine, and the tylenol 3 upset my already queezy stomach, so I stuck with just tylenol. I was never "spinning room dizzy", more of an off balance, kind of side to side (one side up, the other down) kind of thing which got better the more I got up and walked.
The nurses there were great - absolutely awesome. I didn't have an appitite at all, but I also think a lot of that had to do with the nausea. Once I started walking around (with help) things started getting better quickly. My surgery was on a Thurs morning and I went home the following Monday afternoon. I think I would have gotten out sooner had it not been for the upset stomach delaying everything for me. My taste was off for several months - gradually got better, but at first everything tasted awful. (After a while, sugar was the fist taste to come back to normal, and salt was the last.) LOL -- that helped with losing some unwanted lbs!
I have to tell you -- I wasn't sure I really felt up to going home the day that I did..but I felt better almost immediately when I did, and was taking short walks outside (assisted) the very next day. On the drive home, I would concentrate on an object (like a stop sign or a traffic light) and as we passed that, I would focus on another object. That helped me a lot and I used that technique for the first several rides, but noticed rather quickly that riding didn't really bother me too much.
As Drs. Gantz and Woodson will tell you - walking is the best thing for getting better quicker, and they are both so nice (Woodson took me a bit more time to warm up to, but she ended up being pretty cool, too).
You will be fine. Honestly. The time went by quickly and in the beginning I saw such rapid recovery that it motivated me to keep up the walking, which I think helped so much. Don't be afraid to call the 24 hr number once you get home if you have questions. I did several times.
Girlfriend PM'd me and I did send her my phone number. More than happy to talk to you if you'd like. You live pretty close to Sue and I - pretty soon we're going to have enough to have a "get together", or maybe a support group in IA City area, since there is none right now.
Cathy
