Post Op Headaches

[stephanie_megan]

My hubby Kevin (amplified 2000) had Mid-fossa surgery on March 3 at House with Dr. Friedman.  Surgery was VERY successful  , saved his hearing and NO facial paralysis at all  .  He's up and around, driving and getting ready to go back to work in 2 weeks.  Unfortunately, he has been having headaches and they seem to be happening more often and the pain is becoming more intense.  Norco seems to help, but that's not a long term solution.

We saw a neurologist today, a puppy dog doc in Warrenville (IL) who was a referral from our Primary Care doc.  He thinks Kevin has a CSF leak and scheduled an MRI.  Kevin did have a CSF leak, which Dr. Friedman/Schwartz knew was a strong possibility because of some prior surgery complications and the make-up of his skull bones.  So he was in the hospital an extra week with a spinal drain, but everything turned out OK.  

We just got off the phone with Dr. Friedman (emailed us back within 2 hours of our email asking for his opinion - this guy is AWESOME).  He doesn't think it's a CSF leak from the head, but possibly from the spine because of the multiple spinal punctures from surgery.  He suggested we go to see Dr. Tom Haberkamp at University of Chicago.  Has anyone had any experience with this doctor?  Has anyone had this type of complication?

Stephanie
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[ombrerose4]

I had a blood patch done a few months ago because my docs thought that would be a solution to my chronic headaches. I alos had several lumbar punctures in the hospital following my surgery. The patch did help the severe cervical headaches I was getting, but unfortunately it seems those headaches were masking other headache pain that I am still suffering from. My pain has become more trigeminal in nature and I am still searching for relief. Ask your doctor about the blood patch procedure, it can be done in a pain specialist's office and is a relatively easy procedure. Good luck!