Craniotomy number 2: 11 days post op
Hi all, so my 2nd craniotomy was booked in for the 1st june. nearly 3 1/2 years after the first one. this time with the same surgical team and same set up regarding surgical technique with the IMRI again, so i don't need to re-explain the procedure. This time they would use a entry site in the brain to get to the different tumour sites. This meant using the same scalp wound as before, but extending the cranial opening both forwards and backwards to get more access to the tumour that is now wider dispersed.
unfortunately i dont have access to my pre-op or intraoperative scans to demonstrate what they did. (not yet anyway). i had non contrast pre-op scans the night before and then a contrast scan the morning of which i wasnt expecting, but i suppose it makes sense considering at this point it had been a whole 6 months since my last scan.
A few things were different this time. i'd been practicing fasting for health reasons for a couple months before this surgery. but i think this changed a few things in the time immediately post surgery.
whereas last time i was first on the list that day and went straight into theatre when they woke me up at 6am. this time i was second the list. and the first on the list went on for quite a while so i wasn't called to theatre until 2pm. i stopped eating and drinking at 6pm the day before, so by the time i came around i'd been dry fasted for over 24 hours. So when i woke up i had similar reaction to all the drugs as last time. Super Hot flushed and trembly. a pretty uncomfortable feeling. but this time i was still in recovery when this happened and they were really well prepared for it, eventually a vomited up a lot of bile for a while which tasted like a concoction of chemicals so presumably it was my body getting rid of the anaesthetic as best as it could and i did feel considerably better after i'd been sick. i didnt get moved from recovery until the next day, but i was still being sick everytime i had any water or food. and i got quite dehydrated and my blood pressure got quite low. i had so little energy and was in what felt like a lot more pain the last time. eventually they put me back on a drip to get me through it which helped enormously. the nursing team on the molly lane fox ward were quite incredible. as a specialist brain tumour ward and most patients being post op, there is a lot of very dependent patients, it doesn't look like an easy job at all but they all did it with a smile and continuous professionalism. can't speak highly enough of them.
just like last time the most painful part of the week was probably the catheter removal. but its worth it for the freedom you gain. from not being attached to your bed anymore. the brain drain removal. it took me about four days post op to stand up and with assistance make it to the toilet. my first physio session on day 3 put me into a seizure (not a bad one) so i wasn't quite ready yet then. although subsequently since being discharged and getting home, i have had more seizures and walking seems to have got more difficult since the seizures. (they have just been focal limb seizures, no grand mals thankfully) but frustrating nonetheless because it feels like im going backwards instead of forwards.
as it was a second incision along the same scar, i had to wait twice as long before having my staples out this time. Therefore, they werent removed until today. because of the complications and general digustingness of having long hair caked in blood for a week like last time, i made sure i shaved all my hair off pre-surgery this time. which was easy to wipe down when the bandages came off without showering as im not allowd too till tomorrow. if youre a guy with medium - long hair going into brain surgery i would recommend shaving it off before hand because i had to shave it all off after anyway last time,
unfortunately i dont have access to my pre-op or intraoperative scans to demonstrate what they did. (not yet anyway). i had non contrast pre-op scans the night before and then a contrast scan the morning of which i wasnt expecting, but i suppose it makes sense considering at this point it had been a whole 6 months since my last scan.
A few things were different this time. i'd been practicing fasting for health reasons for a couple months before this surgery. but i think this changed a few things in the time immediately post surgery.
whereas last time i was first on the list that day and went straight into theatre when they woke me up at 6am. this time i was second the list. and the first on the list went on for quite a while so i wasn't called to theatre until 2pm. i stopped eating and drinking at 6pm the day before, so by the time i came around i'd been dry fasted for over 24 hours. So when i woke up i had similar reaction to all the drugs as last time. Super Hot flushed and trembly. a pretty uncomfortable feeling. but this time i was still in recovery when this happened and they were really well prepared for it, eventually a vomited up a lot of bile for a while which tasted like a concoction of chemicals so presumably it was my body getting rid of the anaesthetic as best as it could and i did feel considerably better after i'd been sick. i didnt get moved from recovery until the next day, but i was still being sick everytime i had any water or food. and i got quite dehydrated and my blood pressure got quite low. i had so little energy and was in what felt like a lot more pain the last time. eventually they put me back on a drip to get me through it which helped enormously. the nursing team on the molly lane fox ward were quite incredible. as a specialist brain tumour ward and most patients being post op, there is a lot of very dependent patients, it doesn't look like an easy job at all but they all did it with a smile and continuous professionalism. can't speak highly enough of them.
just like last time the most painful part of the week was probably the catheter removal. but its worth it for the freedom you gain. from not being attached to your bed anymore. the brain drain removal. it took me about four days post op to stand up and with assistance make it to the toilet. my first physio session on day 3 put me into a seizure (not a bad one) so i wasn't quite ready yet then. although subsequently since being discharged and getting home, i have had more seizures and walking seems to have got more difficult since the seizures. (they have just been focal limb seizures, no grand mals thankfully) but frustrating nonetheless because it feels like im going backwards instead of forwards.
as it was a second incision along the same scar, i had to wait twice as long before having my staples out this time. Therefore, they werent removed until today. because of the complications and general digustingness of having long hair caked in blood for a week like last time, i made sure i shaved all my hair off pre-surgery this time. which was easy to wipe down when the bandages came off without showering as im not allowd too till tomorrow. if youre a guy with medium - long hair going into brain surgery i would recommend shaving it off before hand because i had to shave it all off after anyway last time,
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