Getting my headaches fixed finally!

hoping for a speedy recovery!

 

I got the staples out on thursday. Still hurts like hell the incision feels very tight and sensitive. Plus the fact my neck feels like a big knot that wont unwind. Heating pads and valium seems to help a little there but only short term.
All in all they said i am healing up very well and am on a good road to recovery. I go for follow up mri in a couple weeks then a follow up consultation with the surgeon to discuss the mri results. If everything went as planned i should be back to a "normal" routine (limitations of course) within a couple months, with full recovery within a year.

 

Good luck, I really hope it works for you...but if it doesn't...

By any chance are you a smoker?

I smoked about a pack a day for 29 years (Pall Mall reds) and always got one or two headaches a week. When I finally decided to quit, my headaches quit IMMEDIATELY, I haven't had a headache in almost 30 years!

Wish to hell I'd known they were associated 50+ years ago...

Again...best wishes.

;->

 

Just saw this. Hope you are recovering and feeling better.

 

Just saw this post. If you have what i have and opt for surgery let me know. Ill help out in any way i can with info and what to prepare for.

Nope no smoking. Never cared for smoking or drinking. My dad was a smoker and my step dad was an alcoholic. Probably thats what turned me away from both. My addiction is caffeine.

Thanks again for the well wishes everyone but ive found out that even though i have hundreds of hours of sick leave, because im not working from my surgery i am now on unpaid leave (fed). The only way i can hope to get paid eventually is to show up and work my normal shifts. I was planning on being out through next week to help in my recovery. The icing on the cake: medical bills will be rolling in real soon.

Looks like ill be going to work tomorrow. Wish me luck guys.

 

Three week update:
Neck is still pretty sore and I have very limited movement, but its slowly getting better. My side to side movement is better than vertical movement, which the doc said would be the case. I believe he said the vertical stretches the muscle more, causing more pain. One of my co-workers had one of those foam type neck brace things and brought it in for me to try at work to help me keep some of the weight off my neck since I can't lean back in my chair to rest my head on it. It helps a lot.

The incisions seem to be healing well, at least my wife said they look ok. The curved incision is very tender and the skin feels tight around it. I guess maybe that is because there isn't anything under there except the skull and if they did a graft there, they would have had to tighten it up to get it sealed back up

Unfortunately due to the shutdown I'm still working. Everyone at work has been extremely supportive and offer to help me in any way I can. I do computer work so if I get assigned to work on anything heavier than 10lbs there is always someone to do the lifting for me and I do the light work. I hate feeling like a burden though. I know they don't see me that way, but that's how I feel. Same way at home. I can't even lift my (almost) two year old into and out of his crib. My wife and the in-laws have been helping a lot and I try to help as much as I can, but I get tired easily and have to sit down and rest my head a lot.

I have a follow up MRI and appointment scheduled with my neurosurgeon on the 16th. Hopefully it'll be good news all around. I haven't felt the headaches which is a very good thing. I hope they are gone forever. My head/neck still hurt, but that's all from the surgery I think. I haven't tried my luck on a ladder to test my vertigo, but I have a feeling that I'll never be comfortable in high places just because I have been that way for so long.

I'll update again after the dr appointment. Thanks for reading.

 

Thanks for the update. Glad to see it is getting better every day, and that the headaches are gone! My wife is a physical therapist and I see some of her patients after surgery - it can take a long time but as long as you do what the doctors and therapists tell you, you will be okay. Apparently stretching exercises are very important when they start giving those to you, make sure you follow their directions.
Good luck with the rest of the recovery!