In an earlier post I promised that when I let the kids give me my pre surgery buzz cut that I would post before, during, and after pictures. I figured I better practice posting pictures prior to the big hair cut.
I present to you Lucy:
We joke that Lucy is my Home Health Aid. She is constantly by my side; if I get up she gets up and follows me around the house. If I sit down she is guaranteed to sit down right next to me. She always seems to be keeping an eye on me and making sure that I am OK. When I lie down she, well she doesn’t lie down when I do. When I lie down she will either lay her head on my head or she’ll plop a big ol’ Golden Retriever paw on me as if to say “You better not be resting, it’s time to pet me”. I don’t know if she knows there is something wrong with me or if it’s because she knows that I am the chief dog petter in the house, but she is my shadow. Either way she’s a great dog, and as you can tell she is very photogenic.
Today…I can sum the day up like this, it sucked! This morning when the alarm went off I was treated to a head that felt like it might explode any second. My neck and shoulders got in on the act too with some nice stabbing pain, and the pain hasn’t eased up yet. I normally don’t take my prescription pain meds at work, but today I had to just to try and get through. I think the problem is the bitter cold, cold weather makes the Chiari headaches and other symptoms worse, and it was minus 4 degrees this morning. Its days like today that I spend the entire day praying for it to be 8:00. That is the magic hour on weeknights when the kids are in bed and I can finally crash on the couch. Oh well, at least the big day is one day closer.
Now that I have mentioned the big day getting closer I figured I would share with you my one totally irrational fear. Are you ready for this? I have a fear that they will not give me enough anesthesia during the surgery. The fear is that they will give me just enough to paralyze me so I can’t talk to them but I can feel everything they do. I get anxiety attacks just thinking about it. Like I said, it’s a totally irrational fear and I realize that, but I can’t shake the fear from my thoughts when I think about the decompression surgery. I think I watch too many medical shows.
Dave,
ReplyDeleteIt may surprise you, but that is a common fear of many people having surgery. I've had several patients who have verbalized it to me and the doctor and I encourage you to too..not only the anesthesiologist but the surgeon as well. Knowing the fears of our patients makes us more aware and and we can take better care of them both physically and emotionally.
I hope that you find relief from your pain and please let us know what we can do to help.
Christine
I'm glad to hear that it's not just me. I'll make sure to let all the doc's know, thanks for the advice.
DeleteAhhhh Dave your almost there, hang in there!!! We are constantly thinking about you and the family!
ReplyDeleteI hear ya on watching too many medical shows. Since being diagnosed with Chiari in November I've been online daily reading everything I can on Chiari and watching tons of videos. I know more about Chiari now than my family doctor does, including the scary stuff. Not only do I have a big brain, I have a big brain filled with too much information!
ReplyDeleteAre you going to have the surgery?
DeleteDave
Nothing like mans best friend, you can tell them everything and anything but no matter what they will never judge or snitch on you. I think dogs have a weird sense of knowing when something isNT quite right. I'm sure she will help in you're recovery pre and post surgery. Wishing you the best! And great blog by the way you're an excellent writer. Joe M.
ReplyDelete