Surgery Update, Week 1

This has been a pretty intense week, to put it mildly. From sizeable craniotomy to grid placement to brain swelling to black eye swollen shut to intense pain and nausea necessitating heavy-duty meds to gradual and ongoing recovery, it’s certainly been one to remember.

I’m in the EMU now, with the grids implanted. I continue to get IV, injected, and oral antiemetics as I need them (i.e., whenever they’re ordered), as well as painkillers of various types. However, I’m trying to strike a balance between ability to function in the sense of comfort and ability to function in the sense of not being completely sedated, as I was for the initial few days after the surgery, when I did almost nothing of consequence—I was, for example, unable to eat and slept the vast majority of the time.

Friday evening, if I’m remembering correctly, was when I first looked at my phone after being wheeled into the operating room. That said, I couldn’t write a coherent sentence until yesterday, and still now, I find myself encountering strange problems as I reenter the world of communication. Nonetheless, I’m finally at the point that I’m excited to slowly incorporate friend visits into my hospital routine—a major milestone, considering how I felt five days ago.

I’m going to keep this short since I’m making a concerted effort not to strain myself, but I want to repeat something that I’ve said before, in a variety of ways. Namely, that this process has made me patently aware of what a strong safety net of family and friends supports me and my husband. My mom is here now; having her help during a critical period has been invaluable. My mother-in-law and father-in-law are flying in from North Carolina on Wednesday, for which I am fully grateful. Once they leave, my dad will arrive. I’m already looking forward to seeing him! Friends have reached out to offer support, and every little gesture, even a simple text, has made us feel less alone as we face this beast of an undertaking. We, but especially my husband, have been much better this time around about asking for what we need in terms of assistance, and it’s making an enormous difference. This is, as he would say, a marathon, not a sprint, and it’s proved important to prepare ourselves accordingly.

So if you’ve supported us, even in the most minor of ways: thank you. We’ve noticed. We appreciate you. You’ve made our lives better in a concrete manner.