Yes, I Had Brain Surgery

I've had a lot of time on my hands to think about this post.  Yes, I had brain surgery.  The cut your skull open kind of surgery.  I have a four inch incision going across the middle of the back of my head.  You'll be happy to know there are no pictures with this post :-) .  

Why on earth did we choose this surgery?  Well, I had an AVM.  What's an AVM? It's a malformation of the veins & arteries.  Why did it need to be taken care of?  AVMs can bleed.  Bleeding in the brain is bad.  The procedure we chose had the highest success rate and the lowest risk... unfortunately, it has the longest recovery.  The good news is that they got it taken care of.  Praise be to God!

My surgery was June 18th in St Louis.  I spent a total of three days in the hospital with the first one in the ICU.  We chose to stay at our hotel for a couple of nights after my release from the hospital.  The first night "home" we had a little adventure with a fire alarm.  I had only been released from the hospital for four hours when it went off.  Did I mention we were on the fourth floor and it was raining?  I walked down four flights of stairs with a throbbing head and the help of Dwayne.  Needless to say when the coast was clear, I waited for a wheelchair and the elevator!

So here we are on recovery day 6.  We've been home about 24 hours but it's great to be home.  Today, I've been given the green light to gradually go back to my normal routine, within reason of course... even drive.  I laughed when the nurse told me that I could drive as long as I'm not taking narcotics.  Didn't the nurse know I had my first nap by 8 AM this morning?  I'm happy to report that my pain can be managed with OTC pain meds.  I will be on this long road to recovery taking it one day at a time.  I get tired very quickly.  I'm up for visitors, just call first to make sure I'm not napping! ;)