I received an interesting phone call yesterday...it was the neurosurgeon at the Iowa City VA hospital, scheduling me for a visit with her. I have been a little worried about the gaping hole in the back of my head from my surgery (ok, it is not really a hole, because it is covered by muscle, skin and hair, but it sure feels like a hole) and I wondered about having a cadaver skull put in place so that I can lead an active life. The neurosurgeon in Iowa City said that, initially, she would recommend against that, but she wants to meet with me in person to explain the reasons for it. I am sure, since I am not a neurosurgeon, that there are plenty of medical reasons for me not to have the surgery, but I am a little leery of being as active as I used to be (running, playing basketball, riding my bike, etc.) with that part of my skull missing. To make a long story short, she fully understands my reasons for wanting the surgery, but her initial reaction is to recommend against it.
For the last few weeks I have been experiencing some pretty terrible headaches; not the kind that you can relieve by rubbing your temples or taking Tylenol, but headaches that radiate from the back of my head. It seems as though I have tried several things to relieve them: taking naps, lying down on heating pads, taking Tylenol, turning the lights of, etc. but nothing seems to help. Now, I don't have them all the time, only a few days a week and I can tell that they are more from muscle tightness than anything else. I have been instructed to go the ER if they flare up again, because of my past history of headaches before my stroke, but most likely it is due to the muscles that were cut in the back of my head for the Craniotomy. I would say that most days I do not struggle with headaches at all; but, the days I do have headaches they are a doozy. I don't have blurred vision with them or sensitivity to light or sound; it just hurts. As I look back over the past 3+ years I realize
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