Hi Daydreamer71,
So glad you decided to post and ask questions before your surgery - the answers you get here in the next two weeks will be invaluable!
You already have a great attitude and sound pretty active, which will definitely work in your favor.
I had a retrosigmoid to remove a 1.9 cm at House Clinic in LA nine days ago, so I can only offer info from my present perspective, but here goes.
Definitely have your fiance or other family member around the house with you at least the first 4 - 5 days you are home. Everyone is different, but I came home on a Sunday and didn't feel comfortable being alone in the house until Wednesday. It's like Katie said, you can get so fatigued that it becomes a major effort to walk into another room even for a glass of water or your meds. I kind of camped out on the couch with supplies around me like when I have the flu - which is about where my energy level was at. I'm so used to doing everything myself, that the worst thing for me the first few days was asking for help.
They also said my surgery would be about 5 1/2 to 6 hours, but it was done in 4 1/2, so it all depends on how the tumor behaves (sticky or not) when they get in there.
The only pain I had in the first five days or so post-op was in my neck muscles at the bottom of the incision, so be sure you have a comfortable pillow ( I found softer and squishy better) that you can use to get your head in a good position when you sleep. When you're sleeping in the hospital with the big bandage is the hardest. Putting a rolled up hand towel between my non AN cheek and the pillow kept my head from turning too far to the side and put less tension on my sore neck muscles.
I also washed my hair for the first time yesterday, and having the "no more tears" baby shampoo was helpful, along with a shower chair. My balance is fine now (it was not before the surgery) but since it took a while to do my hair, it was nice to have a chance to sit. I didn't have time to get a hand-held shower, but I'm sure that would also be a great help.
You found a great place and a great "time" to log on here. Off the top of my head you have all the recent surgical experiences of Sue L and myself in August, - Marci, Wendy, and Kathleen from July, Syl from June, and the very first surgery update that I followed along with Debbi back in April. There are of course many more, but these are a few that helped me to get where I am today - nine days post-op and feeling good.
Hope this helps!
Nancy L
