7 weeks and a half post-op, worried much!!

[justanotherone28]

Hi everybody,
my name is adam, I am not new to this form because i have been following you guys for a long long time, but haven't come to post anthing in this section. I am from Germany, I am 36, and currently i am 7 weeks and a half post my decompression surgery, and I am feeling extremely worries, anxsious, depressed, you name it...  I think I need YOUR MUCH APPRECIATED help. Here's my story:

In mid February 2014 I started having extreme neck and shoulder pain that would radiate also to my shoulder blades, arms, hands and chest. The pain is was unique and would burn at times. I was sent for an mri of the head and total spine, and the only thig that was founf is a chiari malformation with a herniation of 19mm, no syrinx, no lesions in the brain. all went fairly quickly till i landed by Prof. Klekamp who's a Chiari/Syringomeyelie specialist, one of the biggest names in germany and has many publications in the area. He made the nerurolgical examination and said that there is no deficit as of now and that surgery was up to me to decide. I opted for surgery and that was performed on the April the 2nd 2014; cranioctomy, laminectomy of C1 and Duraplasty (Synthetic). I stayed 9 days in Hospital then was discharged with pleinty of pain meds: Tramadol, Codein and a couple of others (deffirent that in the US I guess). By that time i was walking (not much cause i get tired quickly), eating and doing everything on my own.

At about 4 weeks and a half i stopped the pain meds on my own, and since then I have been getting symptoms back slowly. the burning pain is not as strong as it was before surgery but it's there. Neck/shoulder and arm spasms on a daily basis, headaches on and off lately, massive depression (to the point of crying) and I somwhow began questioning the surgery. I don't know whether I overdone a little because since about 5 weeks post-op i hvae been walking an average of 2 to 3 KMs daily. I get dizzy at times and have a sence fullness/ache behind my ears (normal?). I have muscle twitching all over my body, and I don't know if i had these before surgery (normal?).

I am just wondering if what I'm going through is the normal process of healing. Do you experience symptoms while healing? Could it be that I developped a pseudomeningocele (though, i see no swelling in the back of my neck)? is a pseudomeningocele always visible? Please help me with your thoughts and ideas, because I am so depressed at the moment and constantly down.

[selmaS]

  If u had a leak of ne kind u would be nauseated and feel worse with a change in position....and u would see a lump.

It is possible to have a very slow leak, and not have the positional issues since the leak is so slow ur body can adjust to it....but with all the issue u r saying, I am not sure it is a pseudo.....talk with zygy2 as she is the one with the most experience with pseudo's.

Chiari symptoms do cycle so for them to come and  go is not unusual....and the light HA's with activity is typical while healing.

If u have a leak, rest and plenty of water ...I know rest is not easy...try crocheting, knitting....something u can do sitting down.

  The more u rest now tho, the better ur recovery will be.

[justanotherone28]

thanks a lot for your reply!
Well the symptoms come and go. The pain mostly slightly better than before surgery. The neck/shoulder/arm pain is bothering me the most. lately i have been thinking that probably something went wrong with the op and that's why i am getting the symptoms. How is the healing process; are we supposed to feel gradually better? i.e. the pain should incrementally subside with each day passing?

I think i have overdone a liitle, too soon. For example, I live on the 6th floor, and at around 6 weeks, I delibarately did not use the lift a couple of times. At time when i felt ok, i wanted to to test my limits in a way, I don't drive at the moment, so i walk to physical therapy and that's about 2 KM. apart from that, I sit a lot, lately i could not sleep smoothly since i worry too much. I cannot keep lying (got tired of that).

what about the pseudomeningocele theory? if this were there case, can it still be corrected with rest for a few days, or is it too late at this point? I get headaches with light activity, is that a sign for a pseudomeningocele?

thanks for your help

[selmaS]

  Hi and welcome to the Chiari forum.

The emotional roller coaster is "normal"...as the nerves heal they can over react so u will get some symptoms that return, but that typically happens around 3 months post op.

May I ask what u do daily? AS u should not be bending , lifting, pushing or pulling  at this point....Daily walks, and exercises of ur neck to help prevent the muscles from getting tight, and scar tissue from forming.

  U may be walking too far...start smaller as u can over do it and suffer ill effects....

  Try resting a bit more for now, keep hydrated with water....and begin again with walking but shorter distances....see if that helps how u r feeling....

Having symptoms return is part of healing, but they should last for a shorter time then b4 and not hurt as much.....but healing for each of us will be different.