Post-Op Doctor's Visit and Neck MRI
Written 2 minutes ago
Hi everyone! I had my first post-op doctor's visit yesterday. I had a neck MRI before I saw my doctor. I was informed by the tech that since I had a brain MRI after my surgery that they were going to focus on the neck area this time around. Here is a quick update to what all happened.
* Neck MRI's are not as long as a regular brain MRI. Not by too much, but it was nice that it was a bit shorter in time.
* Dr. Krisht said that something was found on my MRI. He said it is very small and that he is waiting on his best guy to come in and read it to make sure. He said it is probably scar tissue because he believes they got everything out during my surgery. I suppose it could be anything, to be honest, yet at this moment in time I am not worried about it. If it is scar tissue, awesome. If it is something new, or the tumor still, well I will deal with that when it happens.
* The first thing he said was that it looks like the area is healing up well, and he asked how my swallowing was. Still no issues swallowing at all.
* I asked him about all of my odd "quirks" now: the sharp taste of sour pain on the first bite whenever I eat, the excessive oil on the left side of my face, and the fact that I can get a headache whenever certain areas of my incision are being touched (when drying my hair).
The sharp taste issues is my jaw area that is still all weird post-op. The oil is the same - those nerves and such are just wacky now. The headache is because when you cut the head some nerves try to grow back and some just set up shop wherever they can - so sometimes you have nerve "bundles", if you will (I think that is how he explained it), so those can be more sensitive.
These issues may go away on their own over time, or not. If not I think I am okay with that. It is just another quirk that makes me Elizabeth.
*I was cleared for adult shampoo! I've been using Johnson's baby shampoo since I was able to shower again just because the incision area is so sensitive and I was worried about harsh shampoo on the area. I have really thick hair, though, and oily hair, so I always need a good shampoo to really clean with. So I asked him if it was okay to finally get in there and CLEAN, and he laughed and said, "You can use grown-up shampoo again". He's awesome.
*I want to thank my Love for being there with me to even remember things to say/ask. I had to be at the hospital at 8:30 to sign in for my MRI, and we didn't get to see my doctor until around 4 (or a little after) because he is just that busy (my appointment with him was at 11:15). That is the most active energy I have had to put into a day since before my surgery and I was tired. Plus - we walked back and forth from the office to the hospital for lunch, and to the parking garage, and just walking around - so that is the most exercise I've gotten in a bit as well.
It felt good, though. It felt so good to be that exhausted and not dizzy!
*And I mentioned that to my doctor as well. I told him that going into this he told me that he was not sure if removing the tumor would take away the dizziness that had effected me for 3 years. Well, I told him I have had NO dizziness since my surgery and he was happy to hear that. "I will take credit for that," he said. He also said he will mention it to future patients if they have what I had.
*Hopefully I will be able to drive in a few weeks. He said I look good mobility-wise in my neck and that I just need to keep moving it to help loosen it up.
In summery:
*So if my MRI is clear then I don't go back for another 6 months. Everything looks good and it feels amazing to have a pretty good bill of health after only 9 weeks out of brain surgery. I still have issues that suck (not a lot of sleep, feeling oily, random headaches if my head is being odd, some depression here and there) but I am now in a position that I can live with these issues and not have them physically hurt anymore. I haven't had a pain pill (OTC) in.........I dunno how long. So hurrah!
Hi everyone! I had my first post-op doctor's visit yesterday. I had a neck MRI before I saw my doctor. I was informed by the tech that since I had a brain MRI after my surgery that they were going to focus on the neck area this time around. Here is a quick update to what all happened.
* Neck MRI's are not as long as a regular brain MRI. Not by too much, but it was nice that it was a bit shorter in time.
* Dr. Krisht said that something was found on my MRI. He said it is very small and that he is waiting on his best guy to come in and read it to make sure. He said it is probably scar tissue because he believes they got everything out during my surgery. I suppose it could be anything, to be honest, yet at this moment in time I am not worried about it. If it is scar tissue, awesome. If it is something new, or the tumor still, well I will deal with that when it happens.
* The first thing he said was that it looks like the area is healing up well, and he asked how my swallowing was. Still no issues swallowing at all.
* I asked him about all of my odd "quirks" now: the sharp taste of sour pain on the first bite whenever I eat, the excessive oil on the left side of my face, and the fact that I can get a headache whenever certain areas of my incision are being touched (when drying my hair).
The sharp taste issues is my jaw area that is still all weird post-op. The oil is the same - those nerves and such are just wacky now. The headache is because when you cut the head some nerves try to grow back and some just set up shop wherever they can - so sometimes you have nerve "bundles", if you will (I think that is how he explained it), so those can be more sensitive.
These issues may go away on their own over time, or not. If not I think I am okay with that. It is just another quirk that makes me Elizabeth.
*I was cleared for adult shampoo! I've been using Johnson's baby shampoo since I was able to shower again just because the incision area is so sensitive and I was worried about harsh shampoo on the area. I have really thick hair, though, and oily hair, so I always need a good shampoo to really clean with. So I asked him if it was okay to finally get in there and CLEAN, and he laughed and said, "You can use grown-up shampoo again". He's awesome.
*I want to thank my Love for being there with me to even remember things to say/ask. I had to be at the hospital at 8:30 to sign in for my MRI, and we didn't get to see my doctor until around 4 (or a little after) because he is just that busy (my appointment with him was at 11:15). That is the most active energy I have had to put into a day since before my surgery and I was tired. Plus - we walked back and forth from the office to the hospital for lunch, and to the parking garage, and just walking around - so that is the most exercise I've gotten in a bit as well.
It felt good, though. It felt so good to be that exhausted and not dizzy!
*And I mentioned that to my doctor as well. I told him that going into this he told me that he was not sure if removing the tumor would take away the dizziness that had effected me for 3 years. Well, I told him I have had NO dizziness since my surgery and he was happy to hear that. "I will take credit for that," he said. He also said he will mention it to future patients if they have what I had.
*Hopefully I will be able to drive in a few weeks. He said I look good mobility-wise in my neck and that I just need to keep moving it to help loosen it up.
In summery:
*So if my MRI is clear then I don't go back for another 6 months. Everything looks good and it feels amazing to have a pretty good bill of health after only 9 weeks out of brain surgery. I still have issues that suck (not a lot of sleep, feeling oily, random headaches if my head is being odd, some depression here and there) but I am now in a position that I can live with these issues and not have them physically hurt anymore. I haven't had a pain pill (OTC) in.........I dunno how long. So hurrah!