Three Weeks Post - OP

It has been almost 3 weeks since my shunt surgery and so far everything is "going way better than anticipated". The bruises are slowly fading, incisions are healing and the pressure in my head is starting to stabilize. There are a few new things I am going to have to get used to, such as the feeling of the tube draining the CSF into my stomach and the control valve bulging out of my back, but overall it is a small price to pay if it ultimately does what it is intended to do.

My neurosurgeon was absolutely amazed at my progress when I visited him last week for my post-op visit. He said my incisions were healing wonderfully, my bruising was minimal ( glad he thinks so) and all of the swelling will eventually go down. This was all music to my ears - especially the swelling since I have yet to be able to squeeze back into anything that does not have an elastic waistband. But more importantly than all of that - THE SHUNT SEEMS TO BE WORKING!!!!!!

While, yes, I do still have headaches they are not crippling. My head does not feel as if it is going to self combust at a moments notice. My eyes do not feel as if they are going to blow out of my head and my ears have finally "popped" back. I can hear! Yippee!! All great news!


Dr. M told me while he was amazed at my progress, especially given the fact that they had originally thought I would be down several weeks and after 2 weeks  he released me to "light" duty, he was not surprised. Apparently he has become well aware of my stubbornness and has learned that it is going to take alot more than a little brain or shunt surgery to keep me down!

While I would like to think I have gotten through this last few weeks all on my own, I know better. I know it is by the Grace of God that I have gotten this far. He was there guiding Dr. M on 7/7 @ 7, He was there lifting me up when I felt weak and He was there when I felt like I could not go on any further. But most importantly - He was there because all of you lifted me up in prayer and asked!

"For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Matthew 18:20

I can affirm that I know I would not be this far in my recovery if I did not have all of you in my life. For that I am eternally grateful!!

To all of you who have called / text and checked in on me - THANK YOU!!
To all of you who have sent cards - THANK YOU!!
To all of you who have unexpectedly dropped off a hot delicious meal - THANK YOU!!
To all of you who have picked up / dropped off / kept my kids - THANK YOU!!
To my sweet "K" who has stepped up and been such a huge help - THANK YOU!!
and To my parents who have been here every step of the way the last few weeks making sure me and my girls had everything we could possibly need - THANK YOU!!!

May God continue to bless all of you as you have blessed me!

The Surgery

First things first........THANK YOU to each and everyone of you who said a prayer for me the morning of my surgery. I will never be able to put into words the overwhelming sense of peace I had that morning knowing that I had so many of my friends, family and even strangers all praying for a successful surgery!!

I arrived at the hospital, a little nervous, at 6:00 a.m. as instructed with my husband and my sweet "K" in tow. Immediately upon my arrival I came face to face with a 19 year old boy who was also set to have surgery. This young man had been driving over 90 mph and drinking when he wrapped his car around a tree. He had rods and pins sticking out of his left leg and was getting ready for his 3rd surgery. As we waited in registration I could not help but think about what him and his family must be going through. As I prayed for God's hand to be with him and his doctors that morning and the days to come, I realized how blessed I am.

They called me back to begin the prep pretty quickly and it was not long before JB came for a group prayer and I was saying my goodbyes to my sweet family. I was even blessed by a visit from 2 strangers, who were nurses and had seen the prayer request on FB, prior to being whisked away.  The last thing I remember is the very kind anesthesiologist saying he was going to give me something to help me relax and they would be putting me to sleep soon. 
When I awoke in recovery, I was in alot of pain. As I opened my eyes, my first thought was what had they done to my stomach because it felt like they had taken a skill saw to my abdomen. It wasn't long though and the recovery nurse was giving me something for pain and I dosed back off. The recovery room, however, is not a place to rest. It is filled with nurses running about and patients being wheeled in and out from various surgeries. I must say though, I commend all of you who work in this profession because some of what I saw and heard was not easy to swallow and the nurses there handled each and everyone of the patients with grace.
It was several hours before I was moved upstairs to a room but the recovery nurses allowed me to see all of my family, who had been waiting ever so patiently for the outcome.
According to Dr. M, everything went "perfectly and better than expected"!! (I think alot of it had to do with all of your prayers) The surgery itself took less time than expected, he was able to get the shunt in with no problems and was confident that I should have a far less expected recovery time than initially thought. PRAISE GOD!!
He did tell me later that he had to physically move a few muscles around in my abdomen and thread the catheter from my stomach to back with a metal rod, so some bruising and tenderness would be expected. But all in all everything looked good. He wanted me to get up and move around, as tolerated, as this would speed up the recovery process. What? No lying flat for 10 days?? This WAS good news :)
The first few days following the surgery I was in a severe amount of pain. But the good news is that it is incision related and not severe pain from my head. Yippee - maybe the shunt is working.!!
I have been having low pressure headaches but they are more uncomfortable than painful and nothing in comparison to what they were like prior to last week. My legs and hips hurt really bad upon standing, but I am told this is from the swelling of the nerves around my spine and should go away in a few days. My stomach is still real swollen (I do not foresee putting pants on anytime soon) and I am very tired. But I am not vomiting upon standing, no ringing in my ears and my head feels better than it has in years!!
I have yet to be able to stay upright for longer than a few hours and I am still spending more time in the bed than out, but I think alot of this is what you would expect with ANY surgery.
 I am hoping that another week of resting and taking it easy and I will be able to begin to resume somewhat of  "normal" activity.
So for now, I am praising God that everything went better than initially expected and I am looking forward to whatever  tomorrow might hold!!

Many Blessing,
Jessica