Day after Surgery - Thursday

I woke up Thursday Morning still in ICU, I could not talk over a whisper, and my head felt like Alien and Predator were having a reunion inside my scull.

I had a stopped up feeling inside my nose, and I was still very tired. I noticed a needle was in my right wrist, and two needles were in my left hand. I also had a catheter and my lower back hurt.  My neck still hurt, and nobody could even give me an explanation as to why.

The doctors used a halo device to keep my head still during surgery, and because of my previous accident, the maneuvering of my neck caused the pain. I had scabs in my hair where the screws were put to keep my head still while the doctor was taking out my tumor. Even though this was not their explanation, it is the only thing that really makes sense.

My blood pressure went from 158/90 to 123/65 almost instantly, which I knew would happen. When I met with the endocrinologist, she said my saline levels were not spiking, and I seemed to be doing well.

They did do a lumbar drain, which they have to do to take off a certain level of spinal fluid, until I started to absorb again naturally. when they lowered the bag that held the fluid, my headache and neck pain went away, when they raised it, the headache and neck pain would increase. So they kept the bag lower than it was suppose to be, but that was alright, I don't like pain.

My wife sat patiently in a chair reading, while I drifted in and out of consciousness. I was woke every two hours to take medications, and to meet new medical professionals when their shift started.

Thursday night I was taken off liquid diet and moved to real food without restriction. That is good, because I really did not like the liquid stuff.

One quick thing. If you are afraid of getting hooked on drugs, don't! I was afraid, and still a little afraid now, but what I was told was, "Let's worry about your pain now, and if we have to do something later on, we can do it then." I was refusing pain meds, and causing myself to have more pain then I needed. After I was told that, I started to increase my pain meds, and then I felt much better.

They also had these leg massage devices on my calves, great little things, always massaging my legs, I wish I had those all the time.