Finally!

My Post-Op Appointment
Tuesday, November 6th

It took quite a bit of calling and calling on Monday to get through to Dr. Tyagi's office and when I finally did they said they could see me on the 13th. I was about to put my foot down, but when I reminded her that I hadn't had my post-op and my surgery was on October 11th she said she'd try to squeeze me in. So she scheduled me for 10am and I expected that it would be a rushed appointment since they seemed to be over booked.

Bob took time off work to take me to the appointment. I seemed to be feeling much better as I tapered off the meds and decided to try not to take the lower dose of Oxycontin at all until I saw the doctor to get her input on what I should do. They took me in pretty quickly and I didn't feel rushed at all. I did start to feel a little dizzy, I think because it was a bit past the time that I would usually take my meds. The nurse got me water, which made me feel a bit better and I did have a slight fever. It was good to talk to Dr. Tyagi and be reassured; she's very laid back. As far as when I got so terribly sick three weeks after surgery, she really didn't have any explanation other than maybe I had overdone it. Having swollen lymph nodes in my neck wasn't concerning to her and she was amazed at how well my incision was healing.

I told Dr. Tyagi that right now I really can't say how effective the surgery has been. I am hopeful and know that it can take many months for the nerves to recover. I also know that there is a chance that they won't recover completely. I don't have the same type of numbness that I was experiencing, but do have some of the same feeling in my face that I did before. As the medication would start to wear off and especially later in the day I would have burning pain all on my left side sometimes worse than before surgery. I can have a terrible burning pain in my thighs and in the left side of the back on my neck, shoulder and arm. I really expected that she would say that she would say that my left side was much more effected and that she had to do so much more during surgery on that side. The right side of my body feels great, all the symptoms I have are on my left side. Even at the incision site, the right side of the incision feels flat and healed and the left side is very sensitive, puffy and swollen. She always says to me that I am a very unusual case with the way that my symptoms present mostly on one side of my body. We asked her if there was evidence in surgery of one side of my cerebellar tonsils being effected more or if she did more work on the left side. She said that it appeared to have the same compression throughout. She explained it like my skull into my spinal column was like a jello mold and that my brain was squished in there and formed like that mold. When she removed the bone it was evident that the cerebellar tonsils were molded in a way that they shouldn't have been.

She said the recovery of gaining strength back in my neck after having the muscles cut will take time of course. Right now it's like taking baby steps, but she says that soon I will see a big difference. It's of course also going to take time to see if my nerves recover from being compressed for so long. She offered to refer me for physical therapy, but we decided that I could see how it goes to work on things on my own. I will go on walks everyday and do exercise to stretch and strengthen my neck. I'll also start going back to Retro Fitness with Bob in the mornings soon and I can at least walk on the treadmill for now especially on cold days.  She said I really just need to build up my strength and stamina.

 Dr. Tyagi thought it would be fine at this point to discontinue the Oxycontin...hallelujah! That stuff was really making me nervous and now I don't seem to be getting sick as it is wearing off as I did with the higher dose. She did give me a prescription for Tylenol with codeine just in case I need it and we found out that we could go through the walk through to the hospital and that there is a Walgreens pharmacy right there. We were able to quickly fill the prescription and I was asking Bob questions about where they were when I was in surgery, so we walked in to see the room. This is where Bob, Ross, Tommy & Connie Beene, and Larry Craig waited while I was in surgery. I wish I had a photo of them all here. I am so grateful that Bob and Ross were together and that they had the support of good friends who were there with them. It really makes me quite emotional to think about it all. The screen to the right of the fish tank has listed by number all of the surgeries going on. Bob said they were given a card with the number and the screen would give updates about whether I was in surgery or recovery. Dr. Tyagi came right into this room after the surgery was over and explained to them how everything went. Of course I had to ask Bob what she said several times and then when I saw her the next morning I had to ask her to explain it again. I don't know that I will ever have all the details that I'd like to know, so I will have to just be settled with what I do know. I'm just thankful that I'm alive and that I have the hope of my quality of life getting better as I recover.