I slept very well that night; I had no choice. The next morning I was feeling nauseous and more nervous than ever about the up-coming procedure. My sister came by and stayed with me while we waited for the return of Dr. Evil :) The pair of doctors finally showed up, this time with the right-sized screws, and once again I was placed in the chopping block position and loaded up with various drugs. Despite the sedatives and local anaesthetic, I very much felt the screws going into my head. How could I not? The one that went in behind my left ear was particularly painful and the feeling of pressure in my head was intense, to say the least. The good thing is that it was over fairly quickly, (although I think the meds might have had something to do with that).
Now, it is not my intention to frighten anyone that may be facing the same thing. This is my experience only, and of course, everyone is different. We all have our own level of tolerance to different types of pain. For instance, I have absolutely no problem with needles of any size, no matter where they go. I can be so relaxed at the dentist that I almost fall asleep sometimes. I have broken my foot and finished vacuuming the house before going to the hospital. I get migraines that sometimes last for days and I can get by on a Tylenol. But, I happen to have a thing about screws going into my skull. Call me crazy.
After the "installation", the doctor had me sit up on the side of the bed so that he could be sure the thing was on straight. As soon as I was vertical I felt as if I had a load of cement sitting on top of my head. It was as if my head was compressed way down into my neck, and at an odd angle, no less. Not a good feeling, trust me. I couldn`t believe I was supposed to stay this way for three months. How could I possibly get used to this? I couldn`t even swallow properly. You don`t realize it, but swallowing is a complicated process which requires movement in the neck and just the right muscle combination to work properly. I was not in a good mood and complained bitterly to the doctor. He played around with the adjustments a bit here and there, but I`m certain it was just to appease me because it made no difference. (I know I sound all whiney here, but I promise my attitude gets better later.) I spent the rest of the day dozing on and off while visitors came and went… Thankfully, most of that day is a blur in my memory…buzzz.
Now, it is not my intention to frighten anyone that may be facing the same thing. This is my experience only, and of course, everyone is different. We all have our own level of tolerance to different types of pain. For instance, I have absolutely no problem with needles of any size, no matter where they go. I can be so relaxed at the dentist that I almost fall asleep sometimes. I have broken my foot and finished vacuuming the house before going to the hospital. I get migraines that sometimes last for days and I can get by on a Tylenol. But, I happen to have a thing about screws going into my skull. Call me crazy.
After the "installation", the doctor had me sit up on the side of the bed so that he could be sure the thing was on straight. As soon as I was vertical I felt as if I had a load of cement sitting on top of my head. It was as if my head was compressed way down into my neck, and at an odd angle, no less. Not a good feeling, trust me. I couldn`t believe I was supposed to stay this way for three months. How could I possibly get used to this? I couldn`t even swallow properly. You don`t realize it, but swallowing is a complicated process which requires movement in the neck and just the right muscle combination to work properly. I was not in a good mood and complained bitterly to the doctor. He played around with the adjustments a bit here and there, but I`m certain it was just to appease me because it made no difference. (I know I sound all whiney here, but I promise my attitude gets better later.) I spent the rest of the day dozing on and off while visitors came and went… Thankfully, most of that day is a blur in my memory…buzzz.
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