Posted by Lisa on March 23, 2003 at 23:34:09:
In Reply to: Just Me Rambling posted by Douglas Veronesi on March 19, 2003 at 09:05:54:
Hi Doug,
I guess I had complications from surgery. I say guess because no one could really explain what happened to me after surgery, if it was a complication of surgery or if I should call it an effect from the surgery. Anyway, I had what the doctors called "episodes" within hours after my surgery and then continued to have them for a period of a few weeks after. During the "episodes" I can't understand what is being said to me nor can I respond appropriately. It is like everyone is talking to me in a foreign language. In turn, when I speak, it is not at all what I mean to say and makes no sense. (I went on and on about purple trees I guess!)
I thought these "episodes" were behind me (I had my surgery on Dec 13th) but just this past week it happened again. Jumped right out of the blue. To be honest, when this happens I am scared! It's the feeling of not knowing what exactly is happening and that everything is out of your control.
In addition, for the first couple of months after surgery I had major trouble with comprehension, problem-solving, word-searching and concentration. I also could not sleep well at all. I was told this was all normal but I'm not so sure this is true. Regardless, all of these problems are slowly resolving themselves thank goodness.
Another thing to be aware of BEFORE the surgery is to probably expect that the jaw will be very, very sore. DJ and I both experienced this as a result of the surgeons cutting the jaw muscle during surgery but no one told us to prepare for that pain and the eating problems associated with it.
All this said, the actual surgery was a breeze! Not much pain at all and no strokes or bleeds during the surgery.
I can't wait for all of this to be water under the bridge for Hannah. I'm sure you can't either!
Lisa