Alligatorob's Diary

[Cate]

Some surgeries knock you about more than others & I think it is often to do with how much anaesthetic you needed. Try to be patient, Rob & let your body recover. Bodies are clever things. Do you have any brain fog as well as pain?

 

[Emilyrose]

I think it will probably get a little bit worse before it gets better. Go easy on yourself Rob! Just take the time to sleep and rest and maybe buy a few newspapers or something to keep you going.

 

[alligatorob]

Another recovery day, I finally gave in and took the painkillers, did feel better but not very energetic... or smart... maybe tomorrow I will cut back and see if the pain has subsided. Tomorrow will be day 4, and the pain is supposed to peak at day 3 to 5. So no exercise, and my eating wasn't great, but not too many calories. I have a killer sore throat so mostly ate soft white bread that was easy to swallow and cough drops... a rather unique diet.

Neck surgery may not damage as much actual tissue but it influences a way bigger part of the body. As in potentially all of it. Take it easy my friend.

Yeah, you are right about the widespread effects... it kind of creeped up on me, first day wasn't too bad but it was downhill from there...

Sorry to hear the pain has increased Rob, but yes i can imagine that would be reassuring to hear that is totally normal and to be expected. I hope you are feeling better soon.

Thanks Liza, and the pain was less today, but the opioid painkillers probably get the credit for that.

Some surgeries knock you about more than others & I think it is often to do with how much anaesthetic you needed. Try to be patient, Rob & let your body recover. Bodies are clever things. Do you have any brain fog as well as pain?

Yep I have seen a lot of variability, and as to the anesthetic impact this one is about my worst. Yeah brain fog and pain, sometimes I think painkillers don't really reduce my pain all that much, they just keep me from complaining about it...

I think it will probably get a little bit worse before it gets better. Go easy on yourself Rob! Just take the time to sleep and rest and maybe buy a few newspapers or something to keep you going.

Thanks Emily, TV is my entertainment right now. One good thing about it is that if I watch a good show I probably won't remember much so can watch it again soon.

 

[Llama]

If you're taking opioid painkillers right now I repeat what Boymom said: be careful with muscle relaxants. Opioids suppress breathing activity. (As well as gut motility, but that's not as noticeable overnight...)

 

[Cate]

It has obviously knocked you about this time. I had general anaesthetic when I was 42 & it took me 6 weeks to recover from the brain fog. Tune out, Rob xo

 

[liza3]

Yes tv and eating whatever feels ok sounds about right for this recovery time!

 

[alligatorob]

Another day, have not had a painkiller since midnight. It helps with the brain fog, but I do still hurt. Not so much as a couple of days ago though. Will try to make it through the night without anything but Advil, however if I can't sleep I'll take one. Took my bandage off today and Dr's instructions were to leave it off. The wound is held together with glue, he just said not to scrub it off, getting wet in the shower is now ok. There is some swelling, but not too much, from this angle you really can't see much of the swelling.


Didn't log today, and did not eat real well, but probably under 2,000 calories. When feeling better I'll try to get back on track...

If you're taking opioid painkillers right now I repeat what Boymom said: be careful with muscle relaxants. Opioids suppress breathing activity. (As well as gut motility, but that's not as noticeable overnight...)

Thanks, I have decided not to take any more of the muscle relaxants while taking the painkillers. My painkiller is Norco, it contains hydrocodone, which I believe is an opioid. Hard for me to imagine getting hooked on this stuff, the sooner I can get off it the better.

I had general anaesthetic when I was 42 & it took me 6 weeks to recover from the brain fog.

Wow, I hope it doesn't take that long... I know from research that sometimes it does. Not something doctors tell you about before surgery, none of mine anyway.

Tune out, Rob xo

Doing a lot of that, LOL.

Yes tv and eating whatever feels ok sounds about right for this recovery time!

Hope so, that seems to be my plan right now...

 

[Llama]

Still looking a little inflamed but you can already tell it'll be a very modest-looking scar.

Wow, I hope it doesn't take that long... I know from research that sometimes it does. Not something doctors tell you about before surgery, none of mine anyway.

Be happy you're 70 rather than 85: in elderly patients it can be much more severe and take up to a year. During which time they generally go to a nursing home and their old place gets sold off because everyone assumes it's plain old dementia.

 

[Cate]

I’m going to investigate pain relief more but think I will avoid anything opioid based ( unless I have a major op like yours) & anything in the NSAID family( hallucinated after taking them for only one day once).
Keep tuning out, Rob

 

[Marsia]

I'm glad you are taking Advil. When my back pain gets bad, if I don't take OTC pain killers, the pain makes me clench up, thus leading to more pain, more clenching, etc. I agree about the opioids. When my mom took them, they didn't seem to do that much and it was worrisome that they are addictive. I'm happy you are watching tv and taking it easy and letting everything heal!

 

[alligatorob]

Today was a better day, I ate better than yesterday, got no exercise, but am feeling alright now. No painkillers except Advil for about 36 hours now and if things get no worse I'll be done with it. Today was a bit up and down, but the downs are not nearly so bad as a couple of days ago. My brain fog is better, but I am not sure it's 100% gone, but getting close. As soon as I am sure my brain is ok I may try a little driving, only short distances on familiar and lightly trafficked routes. Neck still hurts a bit but I have probably got as much flexibility as I did before. The only risk seems to me to be sudden unexpected movements.

Still looking a little inflamed but you can already tell it'll be a very modest-looking scar.

Be happy you're 70 rather than 85: in elderly patients it can be much more severe and take up to a year. During which time they generally go to a nursing home and their old place gets sold off because everyone assumes it's plain old dementia.

You are right, I've been reading a little about it. The post operative brain fog tends to get worse as we get older. Maybe a good reason to get any of these elective surgeries done as soon as we can... This is not something any doctor has ever mentioned to me, I think that is an oversight.

anything in the NSAID family( hallucinated after taking them for only one day once).

Might be fun once in a while, LOL, but not when you are in pain.

Keep tuning out, Rob

Thanks Cate, and I will try to tune out for as long as necessary, but as I feel better its getting harder.

This is very different from my knee experience. I recall no brain fog after a day or so, and was encouraged to get up and do as much as my pain tolerance would allow from day 1. And I was asleep longer for that than this, and got some serious never blocks in addition to the anesthesia.

When my back pain gets bad, if I don't take OTC pain killers, the pain makes me clench up, thus leading to more pain, more clenching, etc. I agree about the opioids. When my mom took them, they didn't seem to do that much and it was worrisome that they are addictive.

What do you take or do? Or do you just bear the pain?

I'm happy you are watching tv and taking it easy and letting everything heal!

Thanks, but it is getting pretty boring, the peach brandy is calling my name but I'll wait till I feel better for that.

 

[Llama]

The post operative brain fog tends to get worse as we get older. Maybe a good reason to get any of these elective surgeries done as soon as we can... This is not something any doctor has ever mentioned to me, I think that is an oversight.

I agree. I don't think anyone should be having unnecessary surgeries, even though of course they should remain legal (like breast implants, or even worse: leg lengthening for cosmetic reasons). And patients should be informed about the risks. Although I think there's a pretty large group of people who'd refuse even low-risk/high-reward surgery because most of us are terrible at understanding likelihoods and equally bad at doing things that are a little risky in other to avoid a much greater passive risk (like vaccination). And I can understand that consent forms would focus on the surgery-specific risks and only mention the relevant form of anesthesia in a byline. But... yes, I do wish people would be more aware.

 

[alligatorob]

Another recovery day, I tried getting out and walking a bit but got tired quickly. Maybe it will be 2 weeks, as the doctor said, before I am able to start doing much... It sure would feel good to get to the gym for at least some gentle bike thing, but I don't think tommorrow will be the day. It will be one week tomorrow. On the plus side my pain is less than it was a couple of days ago and I have not taken a strong painkiller in a few days. Brain fog is 90% gone, but not 100%...

I agree. I don't think anyone should be having unnecessary surgeries, even though of course they should remain legal (like breast implants, or even worse: leg lengthening for cosmetic reasons). And patients should be informed about the risks. Although I think there's a pretty large group of people who'd refuse even low-risk/high-reward surgery because most of us are terrible at understanding likelihoods and equally bad at doing things that are a little risky in other to avoid a much greater passive risk (like vaccination). And I can understand that consent forms would focus on the surgery-specific risks and only mention the relevant form of anesthesia in a byline. But... yes, I do wish people would be more aware.

You are right of course, we need to know as much as we can about the risks. And without some kind of statistics those risks don't mean much. And you are right many, probably most people have a hard time understanding relative risk and risk probability, that is hard to fix but if we are given the statistics we at least have a chance of knowing.

When I got my knee surgery and wanted both done the doctor was against it and kept citing the higher risk of problems when both were done. So I looked it up and found that the surgical risk of doing both knees was higher, but not double. So the over all risk was actually higher when done separately. I took the numbers to him and he acknowledged that I was right, that was when he gave in and agreed to do both. I think he knew that all along, but did not do a very good job of communicating it. More often you just get qualitative lists of possible bad things, with little or no idea as to what the quantitative risk is.

As you say the whole recent Covid vaccine risk is another good example, few people really understood the quantitative risks and benefits of getting the shots. I could go on, but am sure I can't solve the problem. And if people really understood the whole risk reward thing our Casinos and Lotteries would all be out of business...

 

[Llama]

Also: a lot of patients don't want to know or understand, which I find frustrating at times. But for relatively frequent surgeries like yours maybe they could have two standard information packs: one with the legally (or insurance) -mandated minimum and an additional one for those who want to dig into it. Or even just a link to a website with further info. Search engines are extremely convenient but legit sites aren't always the first to pop up and most people don't look past the first three results.

Anyway: I'm glad to hear both pain and brainfog are going down. Maybe a bit of fogginess while the pain lasts will help you endure the inactivity better.

 

[liza3]

Nice to hear your recovery is going well Rob and that you are going easy on yourself. You'll be back to the gym before you know it!

 

[Cate]

It does sound like you are well on the way to recovery, Rob. The brain fog that lasted 6 weeks was back when I was in my early 40s so I would hate to think what it would be like now. Mind you I don't think I will be having general anaesthetic again unless it's an emergency.
Are you back home yet?

 

[Emilyrose]

Sorry to hear you're not enjoying the rest period Rob. I know it is frustrating when you're used to being busy and active. BUT - you probably need this little time out. Glad to see you are feeling a little bit better each day.

 

[alligatorob]

Another day, I have resigned myself to the life of a couch potato for a little longer. My 2 week follow Dr visit is next week, after that hopefully I'll be able to start getting back to normal. I can see now the gym wouldn't be a great idea right now... but hopefully soon. My food hasn't been the best, but I am keeping the calories low. I do eat a lot of throat lozenges, some days I forget to record them. My throat is still struggling. I guess when they operated they had to move it around a bit. Coughing a lot, and that hurts.

Also: a lot of patients don't want to know or understand, which I find frustrating at times. But for relatively frequent surgeries like yours maybe they could have two standard information packs: one with the legally (or insurance) -mandated minimum and an additional one for those who want to dig into it. Or even just a link to a website with further info. Search engines are extremely convenient but legit sites aren't always the first to pop up and most people don't look past the first three results.

That would make sense, I would appreciate the longer version.

Anyway: I'm glad to hear both pain and brainfog are going down. Maybe a bit of fogginess while the pain lasts will help you endure the inactivity better.

Thanks, and they are, just not so fast as I would like.

Nice to hear your recovery is going well Rob and that you are going easy on yourself. You'll be back to the gym before you know it!

Thanks Liza, I hope so.

It does sound like you are well on the way to recovery, Rob. The brain fog that lasted 6 weeks was back when I was in my early 40s so I would hate to think what it would be like now. Mind you I don't think I will be having general anaesthetic again unless it's an emergency.

I know it varies from person to person, but also from surgery to surgery. My knee surgery had me out for almost 7 hours, this one was only a bit under 3. Little or no brain fog with the knees... no idea why more this time.

Are you back home yet?

I was released from the hospital just a few hours after surgery, did not spend a night there. Home since.

Sorry to hear you're not enjoying the rest period Rob. I know it is frustrating when you're used to being busy and active. BUT - you probably need this little time out. Glad to see you are feeling a little bit better each day.

Thanks Emily, and yeah, day by day it is slowly getting better, too slowly for me but headed the right way.

 

[Llama]

Little or no brain fog with the knees... no idea why more this time.

Did they use the same anesthetic? If yes it could just be that your previous surgery was only a year ago. The second one in s relatively short amount of time generally hits harder.

 

[Marsia]

Really glad about the brain fog lessening and the pain abating! What sorts of things do you do for relaxation normally? Hopefully there are nice things like reading you could do now that you have your cognition almost back to normal.