Getting worried- post surgery questions

[Guest guest]

Hey there people.

My surgery was last thursday, and on friday, saturday and sunday I was pretty much fine. I ate normally and I went out and stuff.

Starting yesterday morning though, I feel a little bit of pain in my ear. Not continuous, but like an earache from time to time, each one lasting for a few seconds- like jabs. Not sharp though. It's not very painful though. And the pain doesn't bother me so much as the fact that there is pain at all since I didn't really feel it on Sat etc.

I also felt more "conscious" of the stitches. My mum suggested that this was because the anaesthesia was wearing off as of Monday morning. Especially since I was on a drip overnight with painkillers in the drip from Thursday 900pm all the way till Friday 1000am. So she suggested that as the painkillers and anasthaesia's last effects were wearing off, I am becoming more conscious and also I feel a bit of pain. Sometimes my head throbs, but not with pain. Just a throbbing sensation. Like as if the bandage was wound around my head again.

Also, I'm not dizzy like I was the morning after the surgery. In fact I have been walking around as per normal since then, but since yesterday I feel a bit...dazed. As in I talk as per normal and react and respond and can be left alone. I can read and write. It's just that I feel a little...dazed in that sense. Like an extremely mild giddiness.

Are these normal? My blood discharge from the ear has been normal and lessening over the days. But I find I can hear less now than I initially could immediately after the operation, but that could be because of the cotton wool on the outside of my ear.

Also, is it normal to be able to concentrate very well? I mean I can read perfectly alright and all, but I found myself not concentrating very well when I was doing some math homework earlier on. I think I'm being overly sensitive and "noticing" too many "symptoms" etc but then again I dunno. This could also be because of the slight dazedness?

Are these normal? If anyone can shed some light...it would be great. Partly I think I'm being overly sensitive, but I have also been driving around as a passenger and going shopping etc quite a lot and my dad has told me that I'm being stupid because I ought to be resting.

Help anyone?

Thanks

Jasleen

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[Guest guest]

Hey there people.My surgery was last thursday, and on friday, saturday and sunday I was pretty much fine. I ate normally and I went out and stuff.Starting yesterday morning though, I feel a little bit of pain in my ear. Not continuous, but like an earache from time to time, each one lasting for a few seconds- like jabs. Not sharp though. It's not very painful though. And the pain doesn't bother me so much as the fact that there is pain at all since I didn't really feel it on Sat etc.I also felt more "conscious" of the stitches. My mum suggested that this was because the anaesthesia was wearing off as of Monday morning. Especially since I was on a drip overnight with painkillers in the drip from Thursday 900pm all the way till Friday 1000am. So she suggested that as the painkillers and anasthaesia's last effects were wearing off, I am becoming more conscious and also I feel a bit of pain. Sometimes my head throbs, but not with pain. Just a throbbing sensation. Like as if the bandage was wound around my head again.Also, I'm not dizzy like I was the morning after the surgery. In fact I have been walking around as per normal since then, but since yesterday I feel a bit...dazed. As in I talk as per normal and react and respond and can be left alone. I can read and write. It's just that I feel a little...dazed in that sense. Like an extremely mild giddiness.Are these normal? My blood discharge from the ear has been normal and lessening over the days. But I find I can hear less now than I initially could immediately after the operation, but that could be because of the cotton wool on the outside of my ear.Also, is it normal to be able to concentrate very well? I mean I can read perfectly alright and all, but I found myself not concentrating very well when I was doing some math homework earlier on. I think I'm being overly sensitive and "noticing" too many "symptoms" etc but then again I dunno. This could also be because of the slight dazedness?Are these normal? If anyone can shed some light...it would be great. Partly I think I'm being overly sensitive, but I have also been driving around as a passenger and going shopping etc quite a lot and my dad has told me that I'm being stupid because I ought to be resting.Help anyone? Hi Jasleen

Your dad is probably right because you've only been out of surgery for a few days. Don't forget that having a hole drilled into your head is a shock to the system. You may consciously recognize it as beneficial surgery but your natural bodily defences will react to it as a trauma. It takes a little time to get back to normal. Anaesthetic has an effect too: it's not a drug, as the name suggests, to make you insensitive to pain but a whole cocktail of stuff to keep you unconscious during the operatiion, to lower your blood pressure in order to minimize bleeding etc. I've been told that it can take some time for it all to be fully eliminated from your body. The ear pain is possibly just the nerves becoming sensitive again.

I've also found that you may feel OK straight after the surgery while you are sitting around doing nothing but as soon as you get up and assume normal pace you realize it's taken more out of you than you thought. But the younger you are the better you will do that one.

I guess you will also still have packing inside your ear a this point. The packing would either be gauze which has to be removed later by the surgeon or it would be a self-dissolving gel. Either way it would impede your hearing, perhaps even more so once the bleeding stops and blood and discharge start coagulate inside your ear.

Phil

[Guest guest]

I have had two very major surgeries and since I am unable to have any

meds for pain due to allergies, I can tell you that everything that

you describe is " normal " for me. In fact, I am undergoing testing

right now to see if I have c-toma back. What clued me in was my right

eye twitching non-stop, forgetting how to do normal work procedures in

my office, the inability to concentrate, hearing swooshing like an

ocean in my ear, and dizziness and all that goes with it. I have had a

radical mastoidectomy and tympanoplasty, as well as several surgeries

to put in and remove P.E. tubes and clear out scar tissue from the

eustachian tube. I was down and out off and on during those three

major surgeries anywhere from 2 weeks to 3 months. Just rest when you

can and try not to get your ear wet at all. Anytime a doc is working

near your brain and facial nerves...that is an invasive thing. You

will have good days and not so good days. Don't think that a sudden

decline is not normal...if you still feel those things when you go to

the doc for follow up, bring them to his/her attention. Don't let them

brush you off or neglect to take you seriously, though. Also, go to

www.earsurgery.org/cholest.html They have some good info. Good luck

recovering. , Texas