5 Weeks Post Op

[Troutbc]

Back again! Time for the 5 week update! I can't believe it has been 5 weeks since surgery. Honestly week 5 for me was like a light switch was turned on. I've started going shopping, walking 2-3 miles a day, and have found I am getting bored!! I am starting to feel normal, and am just awaiting my 6 week follow up with the surgeons. Hoping to go back to work June 1 part time which would be 8 weeks post op.

I am still dealing with a few post op issues. Obviously fatigue is a big one. I can feel perfectly normal out shopping, but then all of a sudden it will hit me and I need to go home and nap. I've found that my eyes get really tired too- I just want to close them. It's like they've been overstimulated and just need a rest. Another issue I'm dealing with is my good ear (the non deaf one) is sooooooo sensitive to loud/high pitched sounds. I assume this is a result of becoming SSD but it's very annoying. I can't be in a room if dishes are being put away! Or a loud phone is ringing! Another thing, and this one is quite common, but the wonky head is very sporadic. Can feel fine one day and very wonky the next. It has improved though! Lastly, I have found that caffeine intake is a complete disaster. I am officially off caffeine, as the one day I had coffee to try and get back to my normal routine, I got very shaky, very wonky, and very disoriented it really made me feel terrible and I almost had a panic attack when sitting in a crowded waiting room because of the over stimulation and white noise in the deaf ear. The caffeine made all the issues worse and it was so scary, and I know it was the caffeine because this has only happened once- and it was the day I reintroduced it- and had had 2 cups. No caffeine for me ever since and feeling great! Would love to hear if caffeine effected anyone else this way!

[CHD63]

Hi Troutbc .....

It sounds like you are doing very well post-op!!  Keep up the good work!!

I could have copied and pasted your exact post when I was 5 weeks post-op from my first surgery, which was retrosigmoid!

I think you will find that you will eventually gradually be able to drink coffee in a small quantity first thing in the morning ..... at least I can now handle one cup in the morning.  I seem to want that jump-start to my day.   

Unfortunately the hyperacusis (that's what the startling to loud, unexpected noise is called) has never left me.  My audiologist had a custom-made musician's earplug made for me and it really helps for movies, loud-noise places, etc.  I also keep a noise-cancelling head-set in the kitchen, which I use whenever making noise, etc.  Not fun!!

Thoughts and prayers for a continued good recovery.

Clarice

[rm516]

Troutbc,
Your explanation of events are excellent and we (AN sufferer) can definitely correlate :
<<< Obviously fatigue is a big one. I can feel perfectly normal out shopping, but then all of a sudden it will hit me and I need to go home and nap. I've found that my eyes get really tired too- I just want to close them. It's like they've been overstimulated and just need a rest>>>
- My real life experience : I was walking towards parking garage after 5-6 weeks post OP doctor's visit and all of sudden the fatigue hit me badly and I wanted to lay down right there on ground for few minutes and didn't care as to what other people will think. Fortunately, I managed to reach my car and rest there first.
<<<sooooooo sensitive to loud/high pitched sounds. I assume this is a result of becoming SSD but it's very annoying. I can't be in a room if dishes are being put away! >>>
- My wife doesn't understand as to why "dishes being dissembled from dishwasher" will make me anxious. I try to tell her the feeling is as if some body is poking in my ears. Another one, in a crowded party/noisy place I can hardly understand "salutations/questions" from anybody on the table. I was fortunate to have retained 50 % hearing in operated ear/ retro head section, in other words, I still have "mega" imbalance in my both ears which frustrates me in noisy situations.
<<<Would love to hear if caffeine effected anyone else this way!>>>
I have limited myself to "max two cups" of caffeine per day ( 1 morning and 1 late afternoon) and my body has gotten used to it!
GL with your progress believe me everyday there is a incremental improvement towards normalcy.

[keithmac]

Troutbc,
Your explanation of events are excellent and we (AN sufferer) can definitely correlate :
<<< Obviously fatigue is a big one. I can feel perfectly normal out shopping, but then all of a sudden it will hit me and I need to go home and nap. I've found that my eyes get really tired too- I just want to close them. It's like they've been overstimulated and just need a rest>>>
- My real life experience : I was walking towards parking garage after 5-6 weeks post OP doctor's visit and all of sudden the fatigue hit me badly and I wanted to lay down right there on ground for few minutes and didn't care as to what other people will think. Fortunately, I managed to reach my car and rest there first.
<<<sooooooo sensitive to loud/high pitched sounds. I assume this is a result of becoming SSD but it's very annoying. I can't be in a room if dishes are being put away! >>>
- My wife doesn't understand as to why "dishes being dissembled from dishwasher" will make me anxious. I try to tell her the feeling is as if some body is poking in my ears. Another one, in a crowded party/noisy place I can hardly understand "salutations/questions" from anybody on the table. I was fortunate to have retained 50 % hearing in operated ear/ retro head section, in other words, I still have "mega" imbalance in my both ears which frustrates me in noisy situations.
<<<Would love to hear if caffeine effected anyone else this way!>>>
I have limited myself to "max two cups" of caffeine per day ( 1 morning and 1 late afternoon) and my body has gotten used to it!
GL with your progress believe me everyday there is a incremental improvement towards normalcy.

I may have misunderstood what you've written.  Are you single-side-deaf (SSD) on the operation side with 50% hearing in the other ear?

[rm516]

<I may have misunderstood what you've written.  Are you single-side-deaf (SSD) on the operation side with 50% hearing in the other ear?>>

I am NOT SSD thanks to Dr. Sisti. I still have " 50 % hearing retained on the operated right side ear.. I am the "lucky one" who did not lose hearing during surgery or in other words "my attempted hearing preservation surgery on large AN tumor (3.2x3.2 cm) on Rt side was a success! although it was sub-total as residual tumor (2 X1.6 cm) is still there. I may need GK in future  9per my Surgeon) and then I may lose hearing on the Rt side eventually.
However, My left ear hearing is perfect with no issues.