2 posts tagged “brain surgery”

I'm a little excited.  Assuming everything goes according to plan, which I've realized doesn't necessarily happen often, I get my staples out tomorrow!  Which means I get to wash my hair on Sunday.  Hell.  Yes.  Do you know what happens when you don't wash your hair for three weeks?  If the answer's "no," then be very very happy that you've maintained both the faculty and the facility to shower and wash your hair on a regular basis.  Don't take it for granted that you don't know the feeling of being able to style a mohawk without product.  Though it is pretty punk rock, it's not as awesome as it sounds.

*Disclaimer: May contain disgusting and/or offensive descriptions*

So, the good news is that I'll be six months out from my surgery on Wednesday.  The not-so-good news is that my incision opened up on the side of my head on Saturday.  Yay!  I went to put my sunglasses on as I was heading out to the gym, and there was pain.  Upon closer inspection, there seemed to be an area above my ear that was all open, bloody, and oozy.  I pulled some scab off, put some Neosporin on it, and headed to the gym. 

I was feeling really good up until that point.  I started seeing an acupuncturist the week before last, and that seemed to be helping with the pressure on the side of my head.  However, with this gross, open wound, the pressure is back.  The area seems to be right over where one of the screws in my skull is, so I'm wondering if it's just having a tough time healing with that there.  Anyhow, I went to my GP today, and she was a bit concerned.  It's far too long after surgery to be having this happen, so she took some cultures, (ow) and prescribed me some antibiotics because it looks a bit infected.  She recommended that I call my neurosurgeon, and try to get an appointment ASAP.  I did. He's in China.  Of course he's in China.  I'm not sure which part of China, but I'm really curious.  She didn't mention if he was alright or not, but she said that he's due back Thursday (which makes me think he's probably okay), and to give his nurse practitioner a call first thing tomorrow morning. 

There were two things that she thinks it could be.  One could be what I suggested, that the screw is inhibiting healing.  The other is that white blood cells are accumulating at the area in an attempt to heal the area from infection, thus preventing the area from healing properly.  If that's the case, she mentioned that it would probably need to be burned or coagulated.  She could have said cauterized, but I took her meaning.  She has a pretty thick Russian accent, and I'm pretty sure she grasps for English words sometimes.  I don't think she'll seal it with a cigarette or anything.

Ugh.  So I'm a little bent out of shape about it.  I was really just starting to feel good again.  I don't understand what's going on.  At first, I was freaked out that the screw itself may be causing infection which will lead to horrible infection, then death.  Okay, I'm still freaked out about that a little, but my doctor reassured me that that wasn't the case. 

Of course, she also said, "I wouldn't worry about it" when they found the tumor in my head.  Right.