Its been a while

[stephanie_C]

I haven't been on here in a while cause my surgery date is rapidly approaching and a lot of the posts on here are people having post-op problems and I was starting getting REALLY nervous.  I saw three NS (who all told me the same thing) before I committed to the surgery. But I need as much support as possible going into this, so here I am. My surgery is next thursday June 10th. So could ya'll send some positive thoughts my way next week?!?! I could sure use them!

[zygy]

Best of luck to you with your surgery!! I too wanted it for my kids, I was so sick of head pains every time  I tried to play or laugh with them.  It was really making me crazy.  I am only 12 days out of surgery and I feel I can already do things without Chiari head pains.  I am very excited that it appears to have helped.  Things have gone very well and I am surprised how good I feel at this point.  I will be sending happy thoughts your way!!!!

[selmaS]

Hi...u will deff be on all our thoughts and in our prayers as u go into and continue to recover from ur surgery.

It is not an easy decision and we all get scared...it is normal as Shannon mentioned.....and it is possible to continue to have issues, but many of us do feel the surgery was well worth having......

The link Carolyn  added has all the tips gathered from other threads on going to the hospital for surgery and what u may want to take along.....

If u have ne immediate thoughts or questions we r here : )

"selma"

[shanmomof3]

It is completely natural to be scared and about a hundred other emotions! I'm not even 2 weeks post op so i cant give you anything long term, but i can tell you i have already seen Major improvements! As for sleeping - i have always slept on my side but after surgery in icu when they would turn me on my side i would get a shootin pain in my head so i liked sleeping on my back the best. Even now that i'm at home my back is what works best for me with just 1 small thin pillow but we are all different so i think its just trial and error. Good Luck and we will all be sending good vibes and prayers your way! Blessings ~ Shannon

[*Stormy*]

Hello!!

It is totally normal to be nervous...I only wish I'd found this forum b4 I had mine!!

I totally echo what Elizabeth said, having surgery has given me a lot of improvements too. I think what you see in the posts is people that are still struggling b/c even though we are told that it isn't a cure, we all secretly hope it is (at least I did) so a lot of it is struggling with the disappointment that we are not back to what we are like before. But, that doesn't mean that things didn't improve, for most of us, it improved a lot!! So don't let us scare you off, there are different stages in this process and each one is difficult to deal with.

So...I am sending you all my thoughts and prayers and healing vibes...I know you are going to do great in surgery and recovery and we will be talking to you soon!!

I slept on my side for months, I couldn't stand lying on my incision. A good pillow for your head and one to go behind your back to keep you from rolling over works well. There are some tips on the Health pages too:

http://www.medhelp.org/health_pages/Neurological-Disorders/Tips-for-the-Hospital-Stay/show/1136?cid=186

It give you a list of stuff to bring and some other tips.

Good luck and please let us know how you are doing!!

Carolyn

[stephanie_C]

Thanks for the positive feedback. I scheduled the surgery about 6 weeks ago and I still wasn't too sure (despite three different NS telling me I should do it) But as the date gets closer, I am more and more glad that I decided to go a head with it. I was playing with my two year old daughter and after a few minutes I said "OK thats enough for now" and she looked at me and said "Why mommy? You have a headache again?" I wanted to give the back of my head a kiss. I don't want my daughter growing up not being able to play with her mommy! Especially since her daddy isn't really around much. But now I just have to keep my fingers crossed that it works and that I don't have any post-op complications!

Oh and does any one have any suggestions on how to sleep? ie on my back, my side etc... any suggestions on pillows? Any suggestions on anything??!!

[n40066]

i had my surgery on 11/23/09, so i'm about 6 mo post op.  i cannot tell you how much better my life is!!!  i am not perfect (not that i ever was lol!) but the few symptoms i have left, i can live with!  the hardest part for me is to remember on a day that i feel great, i still cannot do what i did before i started having symptoms.  but i am sooo much more alive now, then i was before the surgery.  dr. heffez in wisconsin did the surgery and i do not have one moments regret.  you will know when you're ready to have this proceedure....it's when you can't bear another day living the way you are.  not everyone is as fortunate as myself, but almost all of us have seen vast improvements over our pre-surgery life!  since you have made your appt., i assume you have reached that point.  be confident in the choice you have made and keep a positive attitude.  it will serve you well as you heal!!!!

good luck and try not to worry!  you are in Gods hands and he will care for you!!!
elizabeth