Recovering time

[Daisychu]

Hi, I am new and I have an AN on my right side and I have already loss my hearing. I am waiting for my surgery to remove it. But there is no set date yet. I am a busy mom with two young kids also I have my own business. I am concern how long is the recovering time after the surgery. Can anyone share their stories? How long do you have to stay in hospital and how long you can walk around? How long did you rest before going back to regular schedule?

Thanks.
Daisy

[arizonajack]

Have you considered radiation? There's no down time after radiation treatment and it's known to be successful on younger people.

What are the dimensions of your AN?

[michellef08]

Hi Daisy,
I took the recommended 6 weeks off work and it was perfect. I felt like I could drive at 4 weeks, but I let my caretaker drive me around a little longer just to be safe. I was in the ICU for one day, then the hospital for 2 days (I think total hospital stay of 3-5 days is normal), then went back a week later for post-op appointments. The physical therapists at the hospital (at least at House) make you get up and walk around starting on day 2 post-op, and do balance exercises day 3 post-op to get your balance working again. The next 2-3 weeks I pretty much had to take a nap every single day, and really took it easy. My brain felt normal and ready to be out and about, but my body just had brain surgery and it really needed time to rest and heal. At first, taking a shower was a production and took all the energy out of me, and then I slowly worked up to running one quick errand at a time. At 6 weeks I went back to work full-time with no issues at all, so I think it was perfect. I was also 27 at the time though, so I think that helped my recovery tremendously.

Hope this helps! I would definitely recommend blocking off as much time as you can to let your body heal and recover.

[mcrue]

Hi Michelle,

I love your story.

I was just wondering why showering was a "production" for you after surgery, and why showering took so much energy out of you?

Was it a balance issue and not slipping or falling? Was it because of the water on your recent head wound?

Would taking a bath have been easier?

How many days/weeks before showering was back to normal for you?

Many thanks.

[michellef08]

Hi mcrue,
I think it was all of the above. Standing in one place without slipping or losing your balance, closing your eyes and moving your head around, washing your hair around the incision, bending over to dry off.. I think it was probably only the first week at home that was too hard (after the post-op week in California). This was almost 3 years ago, so my memory is a little fuzzy.  But I distinctly remember dreading changing clothes or taking a shower because I would get so tired. A bath probably would have been easier, but I didn't think of that, haha. I spent the vast majority of my time at home sitting on the couch or taking naps. I slowly worked myself up to making dinner and running errands, but I easily over-did it. My brain told me I was ready, so I would go out to one errand, and my body would quickly hit a brick wall and I would have to be taken home to take a nap. It kind of all blends together but at 6 weeks exactly, I was back to 40 hour work weeks with no issues at all, so taking it easy definitely worked for me!

[mcrue]

That's very good to hear. It sounds like most people are back to full speed between 6-8 weeks from what I've been reading.

[LP60Girl]

Michelle's experience is close to what my doctors told me to expect but it didn't work for me that way at all.  I'm glad that Michelle recovered so well and quickly but you should be prepared for the possibility that it may be much harder, longer and an absolute new lifestyle.  I don't want to be a downer, but I'll I was in the hospital for 6 weeks and still needed a walker when I got home.  I had double vision, poor speech, very compromised coordination on my entire right side- nothing that the doctor prepared me for emotionally.  I had the surgery on 6/23/14 and a retrosigmoid approach for a 3.3cm tumor.  Today I am about 90% recovered with headaches, facial paralysis, no hearing- but I've adapted to my new normal. I don't want to scare you, but I wish I were emotionally prepared better; I had no idea I'd be facing these issues today.

[mcrue]

Michelle's experience is close to what my doctors told me to expect but it didn't work for me that way at all.  I'm glad that Michelle recovered so well and quickly but you should be prepared for the possibility that it may be much harder, longer and an absolute new lifestyle.  I don't want to be a downer, but I'll I was in the hospital for 6 weeks and still needed a walker when I got home.  I had double vision, poor speech, very compromised coordination on my entire right side- nothing that the doctor prepared me for emotionally.  I had the surgery on 6/23/14 and a retrosigmoid approach for a 3.3cm tumor.  Today I am about 90% recovered with headaches, facial paralysis, no hearing- but I've adapted to my new normal. I don't want to scare you, but I wish I were emotionally prepared better; I had no idea I'd be facing these issues today.

Thank you for sharing. That's horrible. I'm sorry you and your family had to go through all that.

May I ask how old you were? What doctors did you have?

I know the retrosigmoid approach can cause headaches, especially  in patients who were prone to headaches before surgery. Obese or heavy weight people should almost never have retrosigmoid.

May I ask why your "right side" was all messed up? Is it because the doctors didn't "turn your body" during the long operation?  Or because they hit nerves in your brain?

Is your facial paralysis any better today? How bad is it?
 

I think 3.3cm is a relatively large tumor. Looking back, would you have done anything differently? Do you wish you would have had radiation instead, or chose a different surgical team, or waited longer before surgery?

I was sold on the idea that if you go to House or Keck that this outcome almost never occurs.

The goods news is you're 90% better and appear to have acclimated to your "new normal", even though I dislike that term so much.

I'm sure everyone appreciates you sharing your story. Obviously nobody goes into surgery expecting the outcome you received. I'm glad life is finally starting to turn around for the better. As you can see from the many subcategories on this forum, there are many issues that can arise post-op.

[jaylogs]

Hello there!  As you have no doubt are starting to realize, everyone's experience is unique.  It's just so hard to put a number on something like this because there are dozens of variables that come into play during recovery.  Back in the day it was a good rule of thumb to say for every hour you are under during surgery translates into how much recovery time (meaning back to maximum mobility again) it takes.  That was about right for me, as I was out for 6 hours, so it was indeed about 6 months before I could truly say I was mostly recovered.  It still took a long time after that for other things to go back to normal.  And I had minimal complications.  The one common theme that I noticed from just about everyone on here is you can't rush it, or it will set you back.  So dealing with a family will be tough, and hopefully you have a great support system that will help you out.  I hope this, along with everyone else's replies will help you out.  Any more questions, please feel free to ask! Good luck and let us know how it goes!
Jay

[JudithB]

As Jaylogs says... everyone's experience is unique.  My story ~ I am 55.  I had translab surgery on Wednesday and went home on Friday evening.  Up and walking on 2nd day at hospital, showered at hospital Friday morning.  First 2 weeks I used a walker and shower seat to help ensure I didn't lose balance and fall.  More of a precaution, I didn't feel I needed it all that much.  I was able to do little bit of computer work after week 2.  Concentration was tough and sight for small print not so great in beginning.  Went back to modified work (I am an independent bookkeeper) at about week 6 and started back full time week 9.  I am okay at work, but beat when I get home still.  Didn't feel comfortable driving until week 9.  (I had expected to be driving after 2-3 weeks).

My daughter, with grandchildren aged 2 and 6 months live with us.  This was the most difficult part of recovery for me so far...  I absolutely did not pick up the children for first 4 weeks.  My biggest fear post surgery was/is spinal fluid leakage.  Weeks 5-8 I would sit on the floor, get someone to place children next to me and could change diapers and feed them.  I still did not pick them up directly.

Hope some of this is helpful.  Wishes to you for a smooth journey