I would like to know from when you go into the hospital what do they do to you how much hair do they shave and what its like afterwards from a mvd
Well about the hair, that was my first question to the neurosurgeon.
I have long hair. The surgery is behind the ear,
The incision is about 2 inches long and there is hardly any hair gone at all.my hair actually covers it and you can’t even see it. They put staples in your head
2 weeks later they take them out, you don’t even feel them being taken out.
In the hospital they get you ready for surgery,
They take you away, and you wake up. My surgery was 6 hours long.
To me, I woke up and it felt literally like a minute
You go to icu. You feel terrible, you have to deal with it.
Then you go to a regular room. I woke up dizzy and double vision.
A terrible thing. All you can do is lay down.
It’s a major sugery and you need to rest.
Everyone is different. A 1/4 of my skull is numb,
Doctor says it will take 3 to 6 months for that to go away.
14 days later I am driving but I have that dizzy feeling still but now it’s
Manageable. Everyday I wake up and I feel a little better. It just takes time.
Again my pain TN pain is completely gone.
I’m on meds still but not a toxic dosage like I was taking myself
I am going to start reducing more meds tomorrow
I have no idea if pain will be there
Hi Sluggo,
I will attach a photo of my incision so you can see for me, they only shaved off a small portion of hair.
This was my experience.
Day of Surgery;
Check in at admitting, head to pre-op where I change from street clothes into hospital gown with hospital house coat. I also am given compression stockings to slip on they cover your toes and go right up to your upper thigh near your bikini line.
You should be feeling sexy at this point… ; )
Blood pressure, heart, etc is checked and all your information is gone over as well.
From this point I was taken to just outside of operating room, said goodbye to my family who were escorted to waiting room and I am wheeled into a non sterile room before OR.
Here I wait and eventually get setup for anaesthetic. My Neurosurgeon and his colleague visit me and we make sure which side is being operated on. He then marks it with pen with his initials.
Few minutes later I am wheeled into OR. Everyone greets me and are all smiley and in good humour. Eighties dance music is playing in the background and I’m loving it! ( I was a teen in the 80’s)
LoL my NS loves operating to this music much to the chagrin of his staff. Lol
My surgeon enters and they include me in a short meeting where we all agree a to what is about to happen. I’m then put under…I don’t even remember that part.
I wake up ( after 3 hours apparently) I’m in ICU and I’m vomiting and I have a sweet nurse helping me and explaining why etc. she reassures me that I’m ok and that I have a catheter so not to worry about going to the bathroom. This lasts another 2 hours.
My surgeon comes in and explains to me about the surgery but I barely remember.
My family is finally allowed to see me for a few minutes as I’m in and out of sleep.
The vomiting has ended.
After another hour or so I am brought to the step down unit.
I spend one night there and have a nurse looking after me, I’m very nauseous and my head is uncomfortable but I suck on ice chips and am given pain meds, my TN meds as well as anti nausea medication regularly.
I am moved to a room which I share with one other person. I spend 2 days there before I am sent home ( in my case a hotel room as my surgery was out of town).
To be honest other than the nausea, I felt mostly uncomfortable. My head felt bruised in two places from the clamps that held my head in place during surgery. The incision area is a little sore but nothing crazy. It’s just difficult finding a comfortable way to lie down. Day two the catheter came out and by day three I am unhooked from IVs and able to walk little jaunts with my husband down the hallways. Day three I was finally able to eat toast and drink tea. Up until then the nausea from the anaesthetic had me on water and ice chips as well as IV fluids.
I had a nurse help me wash my hair on day 3 which felt amazing!
At the hotel I lay in bed with many pillows and watched tv or I slept , we spent 2 night at hotel before we flew home. Flying was no problem, just needed wheelchair to get around the airport due to low energy.
This was my experience, if you have any other questions, don’t hesitate.
(( hugs)) Mimi
Ps. I’ve added 2 photos one from the first week post op, the other at 2 1/2 weeks post op
323-image.jpg (1.48 MB)
The other photo didn’t load so here it is…
322-image.jpg (46.5 KB)
Thanks Mimi ,
You explain a lot better than I do.i believe the outcome is different for everyone. Like I said, I have been dizzy and double vision ever since surgery. My surgery took 6 hours, so keep in mind everybody can end up with different results. Never take one persons experience as if it’s going to be you. Just pray to god everything goes well. And hope the TN is gone. Always keep in mind the surgery is not always 100% your neurosurgeon will tell you the deal .