9 Days Post-op: Neck stiffness and leg cramps

[jamcats]

Hi all,

My husband had retrosigmoid AN removal 9 days ago and is improving by leaps and bounds (although he doesn't notice the difference yet). The biggest hurdles right now seem to be a very stiff neck and that every time he gets up, his legs hurt. Both of them, feeling like cramps. They're not red or hot, so I'm not worried about a clot or anything, just wondering if anyone else had this experience and has advice. He's a distance runner, and ran right up until the day before his surgery, so I wonder if it is just his legs getting used to less activity (although he is up to walking for 30 minutes about 3 times/day). Walks seem to help temporarily, but then the cramps come back after resting for a while.

The stiff neck seems to keep him from sleeping. We've tried the recliner, bed, and couch, with no consistent results. Did others have a stiff neck? Did you just have to do a lot of stretching to get it to work? I think he's mostly afraid of moving it, although he says it doesn't really hurt. Any advice to relax and get it moving a bit?

Thank you!

[mk]

Hi,

my neck was stiff and sore big time after surgery. I couldn't turn all the way back. I saw a physiotherapist who told me that I shouldn't force things early on. She only agreed to do physiotherapy 5 months later.
Hot packs help enormously to relieve the stiffness. I bought a special orthopedic pillow, and also used the travellers neck pillow a lot. OTC muscle relaxers can help too.

Your husband is only 9 days out of surgery, so it is still very early. It will get better.

Marianna

[jamcats]

18 days post op:

1) neck stiffness steadily improving with vestibular exercises the physical therapist gave him to go home.

2) nearing the end if a second (longer than the first) hospitalization after going to the ER at the neurosurgeon's urging for the leg cramps and finding multiple small pulmonary embolisms. Didn't see a dvt, but the docs think the dvt may have broken up and moved to the lungs. Throughout all of this, the only discomfort my husband has had is the leg pain, which is either better or he's getting better at managing it. This means he's been able to keep up his rehab exercises and looking and feeling better every day!

I would urge anyone wih simar leg pain (even without swelling or redness, which are red flags my husband didn't have), to get it checked out immediately! If the clot doesn't break up but just moves from the leg, it can be suddenly fatal, and no one needs that after surviving brain surgery!

[Derosa9817]

I am 4 months post-op. I had an extremely stiff neck after surgery. My range of motion was very limited and I was holding my neck funny. I still do when I get tired. Sleeping was a bit difficult but know that it does get better with time. Physical therapy exercises can help to increase range of motion as well as heat. The important thing is to try and keep moving the neck muscles.

Best of luck