Today was my follow-up appointment with Dr. Amirlak at UT Southwestern, Dallas. I was really excited at the possibility of having my staples taken out- and being able to hear about the surgery from Dr. Amirlak. I had a little anxiety about having the staples out, even though EVERYONE and their mother says it doesn’t hurt- I just wasn’t sure I believed them. I woke myself up this morning scratching one of my staples in my dream… that will wake ya up! So the staples were still kind of sensitive to a touch, so I could not see how it would not hurt even a little to have them removed. Sean drove me and we made it to the appointment. After the obligatory med list check Dr. Amirlak came in. I just wanted to hug him!- but I settled for a handshake- lol. He came in and his nurse handed him tools to do something- I panicked-, I was like,” WAIT! what are you doing?!?!?!” He was like, “I’m just looking- and going to trim the stitch in your eyebrow.” I was like “Oh, sorry.” I guess i was a little on edge. He spent the next 20 mins going over the surgery pics from the endoscopy. He had gone over them with my family but none of them could remember all of the details post my surgery. It was nice to go over them with him. He was very excited about them and said things like, “These are great pictures- they would be great for presentations.” Which is ultimately what he and I want. I could only hope that when he went in during surgery, that he would find causes of problems. He was able to see a couple of places where arteries were wrapped in nerves, and each time the artery pumped it would signal the nerves. In those situations, he went in and took out some nerves, decompressed some muscles and padded nerves with fat from my cheeks. This all allows for pressure to be decreased from different areas. Sean was able to show Dr. Amirlak a video I took 30-40 mins post op. He was very excited to see that kind of documentation. He believes that change in the medical field comes from patient advocacy and information- as do I. We discussed a small amount of muscle relaxers for my neck. I have had some neck/pain/strain/irritation (don’t know which one I would say) mostly from holding up my head to keep the pressure off of the incisions. The Dr. says I will start physical therapy in 2-3 weeks to help restrengthen the neck. I do not feel like my neck strength has changed very much, it just gets tired more quickly. He also suggested i put silicone steristrips on my neck incisions starting next week and fade-away cream on my forehead scars. Dr. Amirlak gave me permission to post the pics and videos of he and I pre-surgery when he was making his markings. I don’t know if I have mentioned it yet, sorry if I have, but Dr. Amirlak had UT Southwestern’s professional videographer videotape the entire 9hr surgery. This was done in the interest of using it for research, information, teachings, future patients- etc. It has been so fantastic to have a surgeon who is like, “SURE! WHATEVER- for the good of science, research, furthering the surgery, etc. I don’t know if you can tell I like him a little bit 😉 Long story short, I am happy to report (kind of sadly because sometimes I like drama and to worry) but I could NOT feel the staples at all! 
Day 7- Wally-World
Sean was home from work today. I had been pondering going into work for a little… Sean was not having that. LOL. He said we could do something else instead if i was feeling up to getting out. I was able to sleep on two pillows instead of 4-6 like all nights past, so that felt like an improvement. I felt a little better today as far as pain as well. We decided to go get tacos at Torchy’s tacos. We were able to sit on the patio and it was nice outside. I was still a little sweaty- I find that it is a little hard right now to regulate my temperature, but as with everything else- each day that is getting better also. I go to the doctor tomorrow and hopefully get my staples out! After lunch we went to Wal-Mart- the redeeming thing about going to Wal-Mart was even with my bruising and swelling. It was nice to walk around in the AC and be a part of the Wal-Mart people (to be watched) watching crowd. I am excited to go to the doctor tomorrow. I have not seen him since before surgery. Since my surgery went a couple hours longer than he expected I did not see him that evening and he had surgery the next day. Ok stay updated for NO STAPLE pics tomorrow!!
Day 6- Viva La Mexico… food!
Today Dad went home. That being said we had to end today in style! I got up this morning and still felt a little in the dumps so we took a little walk again. It helped. I watched some TV and then dad and I went to lunch. We went to Abuelos! Yum. I def was a little skeptical about going out in public, but I was willing to brave it for some good Tex-Mex. I will say that this surgery takes me a little longer to be able to chew and swallow “normal foods” right now- (NOT normal being anything I can gum down). After lunch we headed next door to the mall for a little walk in the AC. I am still getting winded pretty easily but each day is better. In the evening, a friend from my old job brought dinner over- It was incredibly sweet, esp considering what all is going on in their lives (She also has migraines and a past tumor). Each day is getting better as far as swelling, bruising and pain. Each day that passes is very encouraging. Of course great help makes everything just a little easier!
Day 5 post surgery- the blues (not just bruising)
Things are getting better as far as swelling and bruising and nausea. I have to say sleeping is more uncomfortable, probably in part because I am trying to tapper off of the narcotics. It is very hard to find a comfy position bc of the incisions on the front sides and back of my head. One life saver has been a traveling neck pillow- it has not been ideal because it rubs on my neck incision and it makes me sweat uncontrollably but it’s a lesser of evils. I just needed to through the pillow reminder out there because I keep forgetting during each post. Anyways on with day 5-
My dad has stayed home with me, while my husband Sean has worked. I woke up around 9 and came into the livingroom. I felt pretty down in the dumps… I have no idea why. I am still on my antidepressant and am getting insane outpourings of love but I still felt on the verge of crying. I talked to my dad about it and his response (which is his response ALWAYS) was “let’s get some exercise” now many times in life this irritates the piss out of me… But generally I know it’s true. He is a psychotherapist- so the intention behind get some exercise is, “change your body chemistry- right now” it is the quickest way to change the chemicals, muscles, etc. so we walked to the corner- and I was tired. 3 weeks post surgery you cannot do anything that will elevate your blood pressure above it’s normal resting rate… Which pretty much means everything falls in that category. So we walked very very slowly and it did help to loosen the blues. I talked to my husband also and he shared with me that this is very common after having surgery and being held up in your house. It made me feel a little better and not like I was crazy. My husband is a paramedic by trade and a safety officer at a large company. He sees people daily with the same struggles I have and have had. I think it is nice for us all to know there are others suffering and there are opportunities to share our experiences and knowledge. It makes the journey a lot less lonely. It is through his job and interactions with these people esp today that reminds me how blessed I am- How supported I am- how loved I am- to be in the situation I am. I have a job that is not penalizing my absence and insurance which made this surgery a possibility. God is so good- all of the time.
Day 4 post surgery- down the drain!
Day 4- I woke up this morning with a text from my husband telling me my surgeon had texted him telling me to call the office to check on my drains. I really appreciate that my surgeon gave my husband his cell number… Who does that these days? I called the office and made an appointment to have my drains removed. The rule of thumb with my doctor is to have less than 10cc in each drain in 12 hours and then you can have them out. Obviously I was in no hurry to get them out for a couple of reasons 1. I assume it’s not comfortable. 2. I don’t want to have to ride for an hour to dallas 3. If they are in there, whatever fluid is there has a place to go quicker than being absorbed.
(Ok it’s about to get real here- the point of this blog is me putting info out there so others know what to expect). I got ready to go to my appointment which consisted of me putting on a non sleep shirt and a bra for the first time in 4 days. I had just tried to use the restroom for the first time (#2) since Wed and it literally almost killed me.make sure you take a stool softener multiple times a day if you are on narcotics. On top of being clogged the constipation makes you feel like your brain is going to explode while trying to use the restroom. Needless to say this brought on a huge bout with nausea. I was able to take a soft an and lay on the bed for a few mins before we had to leave to go to the dr. The car trip entailed water, crackers, powerade, a cooler full of ice packs, a towel and my barf bucket. So glad I brought all of those things and even more glad I took the ice bags and water in with me… As once in the dr office I became severely nauseated as they took out the drains.
The drains- they took out the temporal drain first. They said it would not be comfortable… And it was not. It is very tight and there was a lot in there. You can feel it pulling through your head as it exits- but then it’s over and is the discomfort. Of course this through me into another “I’m gonna vomit or pass out” enter my ice packs and water. They took out the back drain which was no biggie at all. When the drains are removed it leaves a little hole, that leave open and you just put neosporan on it. I will go back on Friday to have the staples removed. My dad took me to the dr- mom had to go home and back to work (which I am sure just killed her)and Sean had to work too. The nurse said the healing looks good and I look like what they want their migraine patients to look like at this point in recovery. The word for that look? SEXY! 
Day 3 post surgery
Well it has been 3 days since surgery. I am having a little bit harder time being comfortable while sleeping and that is kind of frustrating. I am however able to go longer between pain meds. My nausea is starting to become a problem but it is being controlled pretty well with meds. I was able to rest some today and had lots of help around the house. My parents and husband are here and let’s just say it takes a village. I have been so blessed by the love of friends and fellow migraine sufferers. I have had sweet texts, calls, cards, visits, flowers, gift baskets, dinners, hugs and prayers. Without all of the love and support this could be hard to have a positive attitude with the pain. I am looking forward to going to dallas tomorrow to get my two drains removed- for no other reason that I keep getting tangled up in them. I am deathly afraid of pulling one out by accident. Here are my pics from today. The swelling has greatly i
mproved!
Day 2 Post Surgery
Better night! Had a breakdown with pain and sat under hot shower water and had a Xanax. Was able to sleep most of the night. Woke up in less pain than yesterday. Pain has escalated throughout the day. About to attempt a shower washing my incisions yikes- wish me luck!
9 a.m – Day 2 Post Surgery
9 a.m. Day 2 Post Surgery
7 p.m – Day 2 Post Surgery
7 p.m. – Day 2 Post Surgery
7 p.m. – Day 2 Post Surgery
7 p.m. – Day 2 Post Surgery
Post Surgery Update
Rough night trying to manage the pain- unable to chew due to muscles around temples- lot of temple pain uncontrolled most of night. Got a pain pump in middle of night – didn’t help much. Pain in the temple area has continued all day (one of the blood drains is in the temple and the skin on both sides is stapled). My eyes are continuing to swell and become blacker each hour. Still happy about this decision but definitely in a lot more pain than I thought I would be right now. Here are some photo updates…more info later!
2 a.m. – 9 hour post-op
9 Hour Post-Op
9 Hour Post-Op
6 a.m. – 13 Hour Post-Op
13 Hour Post-Op
13 Hour Post-Op
13 Hour Post-Op
13 Hour Post-Op
13 Hour Post-Op
13 Hour Post-Op
4 p.m. – 23 Hours Post-Op
23 Hours Post-Op
23 Hours Post-Op
23 Hours Post-Op
23 Hours Post-Op
Post Operation
Around 5:00 pm they finally finished surgery. It took a little longer than expected, a whopping 9 hours, but it all went smoothly. The following images are a little graphic but I wanted to show you exactly what I looked like post surgery. I even made sure to say hello in a short video at the end.
Head on shot of my face post surgery.
Close up of my face post surgery.
Right side of my face post surgery.
Left side of my face post surgery.
Forehead post surgery.
Another close up of my face, post surgery.
Back-side of the left side of my head, post surgery.
Back of my head post surgery.
Day of Surgery – Pre-Operation
They took me back around 7:30 this morning. Here are some before photos and videos. The first 2 videos show the doctor marking on my neck where pain is located.
At 7 a.m. I was prepped and ready to get this surgery going.
Ready to get this thing started!
Getting info on what to expect from the surgery today.
Doc is marking where my pain is located on the back of my head/neck.
Doc is marking where my pain is located on the back of my head/neck.
mymigrainestory 