(Our good friend Jamie Dubinsky just had surgery to remove a schwannoma from her spinal cord. Here she shares a bit of her experience during the initial stages right after her surgery. My thanks to Jamie for the frank and honest way that she deals with the tumor removal and subsequent issues. Speaking honestly about this kind of thing will be useful to others who may read it. Thanks Jamie! Neil)
Recovery is definitely not a two lane highway, so far it has
been a slow and winding road…. November
6, 2012 was the date of my spinal cord schwannoma surgery. What a joy when I awoke from the 5 hour
procedure, I could feel my legs and my toes!
My surgeon informed me in my still sedated state everything went great
and the tumor was removed without any damage to my nervous system.
Although recovering from anesthesia can be awful in itself and
cause a bad headache, the headache I felt on November 7th was one a
wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. When
the surgeon came in that morning to see me for my discharge I informed him
about this stroke-like headache and he decided I should stay another day in the
hospital. The headache was so severe it
was trumping the pain from surgery. It
was all I could think about!
November 8th my headache subsides to a point, but
every postural change I make sends a wave of stroke like pain over my
brain. The pain under my incision is
there as well as the numbness in my left front thigh and this unusual bloat in
my lower abdomen. The surgeon visits me
around 8 AM and I am released despite all of these painful symptoms my body is
plagued by.
The trip home was not a comfortable ride with the nausea
from all of my bodily pains. Once home I
become what seems to be a permanent fixture on the living room couch. No position is comfortable dealing with this
unrelenting headache and this huge golf ball mass of an incision growing on my
back. Three more days go by and the only
thing I can focus on is my headache, thinking I have a blood clot in my brain,
viral meningitis, or a brain aneurism. I
am constantly crying and my parents and boyfriend think I am over reacting or
becoming depressed. Finally, my parents
decided yes something is not right and suggest calling the physician’s
assistant on call. He gives me an answer
of “Hmmmm, come in tomorrow morning”.
Monday morning my parents and I travel back to Pittsburgh to
see my surgeon. The PA comes in to check
me out. I tell him about the pain in my entire
lower back, the numbness in my thigh, the unusual bloating in my lower abdomen,
but most importantly about the headaches.
The PA cannot tell me why my lower abdomen is bloated and proceeds to
address my headaches. He checks the
incision on my back and is astonished at the size of the golf ball in my
back. He leaves the room and immediately
brings in the surgeon and fellow PAs.
The doctor confirms I have a cerebral spinal fluid leak. There may not be enough stitches in the incision
on my Dura Mater (spinal cord covering) and the continuous leaking of the fluid
is the culprit of my headaches. I am
told we need to monitor the skin incision for increased swelling and any
leakage.
I prayed my little buns off that day for the swelling to
dissipate and the headaches to subside.
Sure enough, Tuesday morning the swelling had decreased and my headaches
85% better.
One week later I feel like a human being again,
unfortunately I still have the aches and pains of the surgery. Now the headache has subsided I start to
notice all of my other symptoms of recovery.
The shrinking ball in my back is extremely sore. I cannot lie flat on my back and lying on my
side is also uncomfortable. The swelling
in my lower back is still there and has become a shade of the night sky, black
and blue. The pins and needles sensation
in my thigh has subsided towards the upper part of my thigh but has increased
just above the knee.
As the days go by, I feel just a little better, but I am not
surprised by a new recovery symptom.
Just yesterday (one week plus one day post-surgery), I am starting to
have sciatica like symptoms down my butt and into the back of my legs. Last nights, sleep was hindered by what felt
like a complete muscle spasm engrossing my incision site, the lower back and
radiating into my lower abdomen (could this be the cause of my lower abdominal
bloat?).
Since my surgery and the resolve of the cerebral spinal
fluid leak, I feel a slow improvement every day. Mornings are better than my evenings as far
as my pain threshold goes. Being a
health nut and not wanting to poison my body I was opposed to pain killer type
drugs. As the advice of others with
similar situations graces me, I find it is ok to temporarily take the meds
despite my adversity. The pain meds
prescribed to me does alleviate the worsened pain in the evenings.
All in all, everyday holds a new surprise for me both bad
and good. This week I am still dealing
with the numbness in my left front thigh, occasional headaches, pain
encompassing my entire lower back and wrapping around to my lower abdomen/hips,
pain in my tailbone, sciatica like sensations down my legs, dizziness. My walking gait seems to improve day to day
even though my stride is that of a 90 year old woman and it is painful at
times.
One final note, someone once told me if I cannot take it day
by day, hour by hour, try minute by minute.
A spinal cord tumor surgery is very serious even for the best physical
condition and creates challenges unforeseen.
Thank my lucky stars, I am a fitness business owner and practice what I
preach each and every day because this recovery period would be much more of a
challenge!
I have come to understand this long and winding road will
surprise me with more bumps and potholes but the destination I am driving to
will be filled with health, beauty and happiness!
(Disclaimer: advice shared on this
blog or on our related Facebook page cannot be a replacement for proper
medical treatment by a trained physician. Speak with a Doctor before
making any medical decisions.)
