Successful Surgery - officially a postie!

[nashvillewife]

Thanks so much to everyone here for the advice and good wishes prior to my husband's surgery on Tuesday.  He had his translab (2-2.5 cm AN) at Vanderbilt with Drs. Haynes and Thompson and I wanted to be sure to provide an update.  The surgery was a success with all of the tumor removed and no facial nerve damage!!   Hooray!  As I expected from this forum, the first night and day were not at all  fun - mostly due to major headache issues and dizziness.  But he was up and walking by himself on Wednesday...no looking down or moving quickly, but I think he's doing fantastic considering!  I came home today to rest up and take our daughter back to visit tonight - then got the call that he's on the way home with my inlaws!  I think that's good news - hope I'm ready for my home-nursing as I don't think he's going to be a great patient    But no doubt he'll rest much better in his own bed without all the interruptions.  Let the recovery begin!

[Kaybo]

Glad everything went well...

K   

[Jim Scott]

Nashville ~

Thanks for the update - and congratulations on your husband's successful AN surgery!  I'm very pleased to learn that he is doing so well and being discharged.  The first few weeks of recovery may be a bit 'bumpy', but not necessarily so and in time, he'll likely be back to his old self.  Meanwhile, your help and support are admirable and should certainly aid his recuperation. 

Jim

[leapyrtwins]

Excellent news, Nash 

Give your husband our best wishes for a speedy, uneventful recovery - and please don't hesitate to return to the Forum with questions, details of his recovery, etc.  We're all here to help and learn from each other.

Best,

Jan

[epc1970]

Yay! Another successful surgery. The first job of a caregiver is to take good care of yourself! We are here if you have any questions along the way.
Erin

[jaylogs]

Congrats!! Glad to hear that everything went well!  If you have any concerns about how he's doing or just need to vent (cuz he'll probably get grumpy at some point like I did...a few times...hehe) Please post here and we can try to help.  Take care!
Jay

[Lilan]

Congrats, Nash! Great news.

[DR]

I think that's good news - hope I'm ready for my home-nursing as I don't think he's going to be a great patient    But no doubt he'll rest much better in his own bed without all the interruptions.  Let the recovery begin!

Great to learn things went well.  You might be surprised, my wife swears I was nicer AFTER surgery than I have been for a long time    Maybe I was just afraid she would take advantage... I'm thinking of Kathy Bates in Misery kind of advantage... 

As of others have mentioned, feel free to ask any questions or vent if/when you feel the need!

- Dennis

[nashvillewife]

Thanks to everyone!  It's so great to be able to escape to this site on occasion.  All is well, hubby is holding his own.  Definitely think he's feeling the "wonky" head I read about here so much, and he notices every little noise within a three mile radius of the house!!  Otherwise, trying to get him to rest instead of pacing the floors is the harded part of my job.  If only my inlaws were on their way home    Not only will I have a recovering AN patient on my hands when they leave, but a very spoiled 9-yo to retrain  

I do have one question that we haven't ever thought about - at what point will he be able to fly again?  We did think to ask about scuba-diving and realize that will no longer be an option, but am hoping flying this spring might not be an issue?

Thanks again.

[Adrienne]

Seems that lots of people fly even as early as a week out from surgery, so I'm thinking that's not going to be a problem.

I have to ask though-why no SCUBA diving?  I plan on going in the next few weeks, and I'm about 7 months out of surgery.  I can't for the life of me figure out why he wouldn't be able to do this now?  (I do admit to having the attitude of thinking absolutely ANYthing I did prior to surgery I can do now.....).  Can you clarify?

So glad things went well and he's recovering at home.  Congrats!

Adrienne

[JerseyGirl2]

but am hoping flying this spring might not be an issue?

certainly shouldn't be a problem; patients routinely fly 10 days after surgery, and some do it sooner. I flew 10 days after mine and had zero issues with pressure, etc.

Catherine (JerseyGirl 2)

[nashvillewife]

Glad to know flying anytime now really shouldn't be an issue - although I'm not sure he's really up for a big trip just yet     Adrienne, as to the scuba question - we were told that the pressue is just too intense at deep depths (snorkeling 20-30 ft or so is OK).  Although the skull heals nicely, it's not really bone but super tough cartilage/scar tissue that fills in. 

[lori67]

Glad to hear your husband had a good outcome!  I knew he would.  Must be such a relief for you now that he's through it.

I flew a few months after my surgery and didn't have any problems.  The only thing that is bothersome to me is that between being deaf in one ear and the usual airplane noise, I can't really hear anything at all in flight.  This works to my advantage when there are crying children on board - especially if they are my own.   

Try to maintain your sanity while your husband heals.  I remember telling mine that I was glad I was the one who needed surgery and not him - he would have driven me nuts!

Congrats from another Vanderbilt Otology "graduate"!

Lori
P.S.  Have you gotten to see Dr. O'Malley yet?  Cutie!!!   

[Kaybo]

Adrienne~
I was also told that I would never be able to SCUBA or SKY dive - the scuba didn't bother me but I was REALLY wanting to sky dive...but it sure made my mom happy!!    I was told it was b/c of the intense pressure changes - I didn't really think much about it.  I actually always thought that it had something to do with the lack of the eardrum and how they "plugged" that eustation tube - you know how your ears get plugged and you need to pop them when you change elevations?  I would DEFINATELY talk to the Dr. about this - what kind of surgery did you have??

K   

[moe]

Nash,
Great news on hubbie's successful surgery! Yes, he definitely needs to rest A LOT-maybe when the in laws are gone. But walking really is the best thing.
Let us know how things go.
Maureen