6 Weeks Post Op

Well, the long awaited news is finally here... My Endo called this week to inform me that my IGF, Insulin Growth Factor, was 186, it was 1,111 prior to my surgery. The normal range is 70-306. Drum roll please... MY SURGERY WAS SUCCESSFUL!!!

The only oddity in my results was that my testosterone levels were low-normal but still within an acceptable range. They will continue to monitor. Okay, TMI but great news nevertheless!

So, how am I doing? Well, much better thank you...

I seemed to turn a corner earlier this week with respect to my headache. It was really weird, the pain had been constant and I had forgotten to take my pain meds to work with me a couple times and I paid for it. It was difficult to focus but I endured the pain, the first time. The second time I wanted to beat my head against the wall for my sheer stupidity. The pain was constant and sharp, how could I forget? Well, I did. Twice. The second time I went home during lunch and I was okay after that.

I want to point out that my pain and discomfort is all my doing. The pain meds are really effective at controlling the pain. A single pill will have me nice and loopy within 20 mins (in a good way). I just have to remember to take them. (Oh, and the stool softener, we don't want to forget that!)

Then about 3 days ago, it changed. I woke up to find that my headache was limited to only a quarter of my head. The rear part of my head felt fine, the front-left part also felt fine. The front-right, on the other hand, sharp and painful. Percocet here I come...

The next day, it was a like a light switch, nothing. No pain, nothing. Wow, I wondered how long it would last. I made sure to take my meds with me but I was fine all day. The next day, same thing. Today is the 3rd day and I'm going strong. I'm almost tempted to go pop one of the kids with a tackling pad just to see if it comes back... Upon second thought, I'm quite happy to give it more time...

The last item I need to mention is those mysterious twitches. They stayed with me for about a week but I haven't noticed them lately. They weren't anything more than subtly interesting. It would catch my attention when it occurred but then it would go away just as quickly as it started. Strange to be sure but nothing that felt very alarming.

My next update should occur on or near Oct 12, 2008. That will mark 2 months post surgery... I can't believe how quickly it is going.

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4 weeks Post-Op

Overall it was a good week. Despite the busy schedule, work was very productive and I had an opportunity to meet with old colleagues. In terms of my condition, I had a slight setback due to some carelessness on my part and met with my Endo which hasn't provided any results yet. With that, here's where I am with my current list of issues.

List of issues:

• Headache - slight setback
• Insomnia - tolerable

New to the list:

• Twinges of numbness in my limbs

Although I did have a good week, I did make a big mistake during football practice towards the end of last week. We were trying to teach our kids the long-snap rather than hiking the ball up close and personal. Our little center (hiker) was doing great unopposed but in tackle football, that's hardly realistic. Since I had been feeling better, I grabbed a pad and decided to pop him when he snapped the ball. As soon as I did it, I knew it was a mistake. He barely moved from my hit but the jolt rang through my head like church bells and that familiar sharp pain in my forehead came back (dammit!). I paused and waited for it to subside and it did subside from its peak intensity but not to the normal dullness that I could ignore. Instead it retained a bit of a sharp edge to it and it was no something I could simply dismiss. Damn, damn, damn, damn! I asked another little boy to take over my opposing duty but the damage was done. As the days passed, it remains, to the extent that by Friday, I had to take a pain pill. I had been able to avoid taking those for over two weeks and now I'm back on them. (Dammit!) The good news is that my headache doesn't worsen when I bend over or stand up any more. Now it's just there all the time.

The twinges in my limbs are weird and they coincidentally started happening a day or so after that regrettable decision. I can be moving or sitting (it really doesn't matter) and then I'll feel a twinge of numbness in my knees or elbows. Not at the same time, just random (and weird).

The office visit itself went fairly well. They were encouraged that I wasn't experiencing any fatigue and I had weened myself off the hydrocortisone over the weekend prior to my visit. It was a good sign that my pituitary gland is recovering and generating the necessary hormones to keep my body going. (I'll have to do a better job of writing down the hormones they keep talking about, it's all still very new to me.)

The visit again tested my dislike for needles. Not only did I have to allow the vampires (aka phlebotomist) to take more blood, the sweet nurse had to inject me with something before the blood draw. "Left arm, right arm please..."

I delayed publishing this post in hopes that I would have received results from my Endo but 4 days later, I still don't have anything...

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3 weeks Post-Op

I returned to work this week and I didn't have any issues that prevented me from working in a sedentary environment. To be clear, my physical activity entails all of sitting at a desk, typing and using the phone. I did need to walk to conference rooms both upstairs and down but these are all activities well within my limits. My doctor recommended that I stay home for another week or work part-time but being at a new job, I didn't have any vacation time (or sick time) and I didn't trust my employers patience. Three weeks is a long time for a new guy not to be at work. If there was physical labor involved, I would have stayed on disability. For me, my bigger issue was staying home. I have projects coming out my ears and while I was sitting idly wasting the day, I was continually tempted to install solar panels, rebuild the XR100, wash and wax my car, repair sprinklers, straighten up the garage and clean my 50 gallon fish tank. All of which require a fair amount of stooping and lifting which still hurts like hell. My reasoning was simple, go to work and avoid all of it. My list of issues is considerably smaller now but I'll provide an update from my previous list.

• headache/head pressure - dull/tolerable
• extreme neck pain - 100% gone
• sharp pain in ribs - 100% gone
• Slow bowels - still present but under control with meds
• Insomnia - still present but sleeping better than before

Of my original list of issues, only the headache remains. It's dull and always present. It would sharpen to intense pain when I would bend over or if I stood up too quickly. It got to be predictable and I would brace for it, and wait for it to pass. As of Sunday, two days before my 3 week anniversary, it stopped altogether. I can bend over slowly and stand up slowly and there is no subsequent pain that follows. The dull portion of the headache is still there but the sharp waves have disappeared. Wahoo!

The insomnia remains and it is my biggest concern. I need to work (during the day), which means I need to sleep (in the evening). I asked my doctor to suggest a sleeping aide and he deferred me to my Endocrinologist. He then suggested that I start weening myself off the hydrocortisone, basically omitting my evening dosage. That helped a little in that I seem to be able to get some sleep, it's just not a sound sleep and I'll wake up throughout the night. The important part is that I do fall back asleep and get a decent number of hours (4-6 hours) before getting up in the morning. I figure that I'll eventually get tired enough to sleep all the way through.

Coincidentally I met with my ENT on this day and he had a look at stitches (Aha! Proof!) and he subsequently removed them. (Damn!) He said I healed up nicely and he doesn't need to see me any more. He also mentioned that my nose was a bit swollen and crusty (which I already knew) but he wasn't worried about it. Okay, thanks doc!

My Endo is next week!

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