The evidence of needing a neck lift has never been higher.....uughh

Hi Everyone!

This is apparently what I looked like in recovery, right after surgery.

I found out a while later that the OR nurses, who were so kind and were giving me hugs and praying for me, braided my hair out of the way instead of shaving a space to make the incision so that the doc would have a path to follow and I wouldn't have to be partially 'bald' there for a while. How nice, huh?


I had to wait several hours in recovery before they could take me to NICU as there weren't any empty beds available for me there...not like I knew the difference though!

The first evening was okay except that I was nauseated and I refused to take phenegren or Reglan, so I just got sick a couple of times. I finally kept a popsicle down around 4AM, and then it was smooth sailing. I was more worried about any reaction I may have to all the meds they give to you, but haven't had any! I feel pretty good considering.

The first night in NICU they ask you questions every 30 minutes to look for neuro-deficits, etc. They of course are also checking every bodily function known to man kind as well..What cracked me up the most though was ( and if you are a liberal and reading this, I am sorry, but I just had brain surgery and I don't care if it ticks you off ), was that they ask you the same questions over and over, Full name, What year is it?, Where are you? WHO IS THE PRESIDENT?-Ughhh. I think thats what made me nauseated the most while I was in NICU:)) Are they trying to illicit a response from me???And then I'm thinking....these people are taking care of me...be nice Wendy , and try to say just OBAMA, and not Hussein Obama...


Okay , enough of that. He is one of God's children too....Remember that folks.

Anywho.... The second morning they moved me to room out of NICU that I had to share...yes, share, with someone else. I didn't even know they did that anymore! I haven't seen a room like that since probably the 80's, and I've seen alot of hospital rooms.

I had a neuro exam done the second day after surgery and the doctor said I did the best of anyone she had given the test to...:) They had me dong these frickin' mazes that you couldn't pass over paths you already went on and you had to go to a certain list of places on map, etc and start here and end here. I would have had to think about it for a bit on a good day. I somehow did pretty well on it only missing one. I felt like an idiot, but she said she was impressed. At least someone was!

By that evening, Deirdre , who spent the night w/ me , made them move us to a room w/ nobody else in it. The lady we were with was very restless, moaning, and her phone was ringing, and they kept having to do alot for her. I hadn't slept in two days and was ready to ask Deirdre to just wheel me out into the hallway so I could sleep!

I did sleep better in our new digs. I mean, 2 to 3 hours is better than none!

They released me at a round 1 PM or so that day and we all drove back to Memphis, arriving home around 4-5PM.

I slept pretty good last night in my own bed. Garby cuddled up next to me. Thank GOD we have a temporpedic ( I know that is not spelled correctly...as are probably a full third of the words here....you'll live) hospital adjustable bed! I couldn't imagine having to lay flat or try to get elevated.

I have few things I can't do. You know, fun things like cleaning, cooking( I actually like that) and lifting, so I have help for that. I would really enjoy getting my hair washed as its pretty gnarly right now with all the 5 lbs of antibacterial vaseline crap they put on it. My head feels like the underside of a crank shaft! I do get to wash my hair tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that....maybe not so much the drying though.

Dr. Thompson told me right after surgery and a few other times, that the tumor came out so easily, it wasn't even funny. He said it virtually slid out. This was a meningioma,a type of tumor that grows out of the meneges,the skin lining of your brain. Regardless of what type of tumor anyone has growing in the brain ,just the fact that it is in your brain is going to cause pressure on brain parts, ventricles and nerves, regardless of whether it is growing from the actual brain cells ( like Nick's was-astrocytoma) or like mine , growing from the cells lining the brain pushing in on the brain...its going to cause issues eventually.

Thompson said he was able to get 100 % of it. A pathology report during surgery showed it to be benign, and he is not recommending any radiation or chemo and just to have a MRI in a year every year for awhile! I was worried because it(was) a fast growing meningioma. Typically meningiomas are a type of tumor that grow 1 to 2 mm a year. They watch them via MRI's to monitor their growth, especially if there aren't too many or no issues. I had a MRI in Jan of 2007 whereby there was nothing, and I had one done in February of 2009 and it was over 3 cm, so they considered this to be fast growing and I was told there were the type that are more likely to be malignant. I was worried about having any treatments, and quite honestly would have probably opted away from any. All I can do is THANK GOD for answered prayers and for actually making this a good thing for me...(more on that later).

I'll post later. I'm going to go get some water, watch the Navy kick butt in East Africa and maybe watch something funny on TV, like MSNBC(:) Hell no....

Can you host a tea party after April 15th???? is that 'wrong' or socially unacceptable nowadays?

Love EVERYBODY!!!

Love,

Wendy