Hi all
@Doug - re: Texas - we do hear a lot of good things about Houston / MD Anderson. My preference was to go with doctors where I could first read a lot of first-hand stories about the results, there were so many about both House and Keck, so I decided to go to LA. I did meet with some doctors here in Dallas but one team said they do not do many retrosig surgeries (and everyone said I needed restrosig), and the other team, the neurosurgeon was not in my health plan network - I considered paying extra for out of network but chose LA instead.
@Stacey - re: surgery coming up: I could not believe how calm I felt as the surgery got close. I really did trust that I was doing the right thing with the right doctors and I was not nervous. Hopefully you will find this as well.
As to what helps with recovery - we found that Peppermint Oil helped reduce nausea - I had problem with that for first ~5 days.
Another thing that helped is, after we left the hospital, my husband made me nice smoothies every day with fresh fruit, protein powder, added fiber. was good to have those every day.
Some people get one or two wedge pillows to help with keeping the head propped up at night. I had a memory foam pillow plus a large firm down pillow to keep elevated. It is best to stay propped up and not bend your head down below heart for many weeks - the dura does not heal very fast and you don't want to spring a leak - no bending, no lifting, sleep propped up etc.
I did a huge amount of walking and found it was nice to listen to Audible books or various podcasts on my long walks. There are many interesting things out there to listen to! You can set your smart phone to "mono" audio, if you lose one ear like I did.
At first I needed a chair for the shower - we were still in LA so we bought a folding camping chair and used that in the shower with a towel under its feet to protect the tub. that worked fine, cost $10. I did not need it after the first week.
If you color your hair or need a hair cut, best to do that like a week or less before surgery, so it can stay looking good for a while - you won't want anyone touching your head probably for a while. I am 6 weeks post, and will wait another 6 to get my hair done again. They don't take off much hair for surgery so don't worry about that, and it's good to have enough to hang down over the scar while it heals, when you go out.
Good Luck !! Focus on sleeping, relaxing, eating right etc. Try not to waste energy on anything that is not "urgent" to take care of. Good to build up lower body strength for stability post op.
My two cents !
