Okay Carrie - it's time we got to meet the boyfriend - and tell him what hhis duties are concerning your extended family and our need for news! Get him on here before the sin sets okay (and no - that was no typo!! LOL)

Bump.

   OK did you get a charge out of the procedure. Or is the boyfriend still trying to figure out how to hook up the accessories? Enquiering minds and all.

Thanks so much for the update! Keeping the prayers coming!

Joe

Thanks for the update Jason.  Tell Carrie that she's loved here too and prayers continue to go up on her behalf.


((((Carrie))))

Thanks so much to all of you!!!

I am finally feeling a little bit better today!  My chest is still pretty sore, but I have been able to get up and move around a little bit more today without feeling like total hell.

Charlotte, Thanks so much for calling me last night and for reading me all the messages on the board!  It was so nice of you and definitely lifted my spirits a bit!  I felt bad that I hadn't been on the boards yet to update anyone.  Jason now knows that he has to update everyone ASAP in the event that I cannot! haha  Charlotte, I don't know if you  have talked to Matt or his mom at all recently, but I learned that Matt also had only one half of the stimulator implanted in his last surgery and will get the other half implanted (so will have total bilateral supraorbital and bilateral occipital and 2 batteries in each side of chest) 6 months from his last surgery.  We decided to do the same for me to reduce the risk of infection and reduce risk of other complications from the surgery.

As Jason said, they had a little difficulty with scar tissue on the right side of my forehead from the previous surgery.  Also, my neurosurgeon wanted to get that supraorbital lead as close to the center of my forehead as possible, so I have a few little incisions on my forehead this time.  He shaved a LOT more hair this time, but once things are healed up and my hair is down, you really won't be able to see it.  Right now I have a "Pebbles" hairdo with a ponytail standing straight up on my head to keep my  hair out of the incision areas!  haha...  I haven't yet been able to see what the battery looks like positioned in my chest.

My mom did stay with me on Tuesday night because of the bad weather here, and Jason was kind enough to sleep on the couch so she could share the bed with me.  That way she was also able to help me take my pain meds throughout the night.  In the recovery room, they gave me several doses of fentanyl and morphine for the pain, and then back in the short procedure unit, they gave me 2 percocet for pain, but after about an hour and a half, I was in excruciating pain again, so the nurse got some IV morphine ordered.  I fell asleep and when I woke up, the morphine had helped to take the edge off!  I was definitely in a lot of pain Tuesday through this morning, but as I said it's started to get a bit better today!

With the last implant, the battery was in my right abdomen, and it was a larger battery that stuck out a decent amount.  Looked kinda odd!  This time, they decided to basically tuck the new, smaller battery in the right side of my right breast.  (Extra padding, and all! lol)  All modesty has basically gone out the window with this one!  I think because of where the battery was implanted, it has been a more sensitive area, which has been why it's been more painful.  The surgeon and company rep feel that this area will actually be more comfortable than the abdomen though in the long run because of increased padding there, smaller battery, less tension on the wires, and so on.

The stimulator is actually off right now because I'm still a little sore from the insertion.  The company rep did turn it on on Tuesday on very low settings, but we're meeting at my headache center appt on Wednesday to put in more programs.  As I said, in 6 months I'll likely get the other half implanted, although the company rep said to my dad that they are hoping maybe the right side will be enough to do the trick.  Not that I *want* to go through this again, but I kinda think I'll need the other side because my headaches are about 80% right/20% left.  We'll see though!

So that's that!  Sorry for the length of this update!  Jason is at work now - he's working 1pm-8pm today.  Last night after my mom left, he made me some soup, and this morning he got me some oatmeal.  This evening, my parents are coming back over and my mom is going to help me remove the bandages, get a shower, and put fresh bandages on.  They said to take the bandages off today, and we want to do this to be sure no infection from any drainage.  I go to the neurosurgeon on the 19th for suture removal and my first follow up visit!

Thanks so much again for the well wishes, and I'm sorry I didn't get Jason on here sooner to update you all!  I was definitely thinking about everyone, but I felt like total crap so I just couldn't even think about getting online!  Better now, though!

Thanks again!!

Much love and PF wishes!
Carrie

Carrie,

Don't worry about updating!! Use me, that's what I'm here for. Jason is doing a  great job taking care of you too. 

Your surgery details are incredible. This whole procedure is so amazing to me. I hope things go better for you and Matt this time.

Charlotte

Carrie, it's so good to "see" you!  Your family sounds wonderful.     You take it easy and make sure you get lots of rest!!!!!!

Laurie

Carrie, thank you so much for the update! Keep us posted when you're up to it.

Jason, thank you for taking care of my cluster sister! And being a great supporter.

Hugs,
Sanna

Hi all,

Thanks again for all the good thoughts and prayers!  Today's update is that things are still going okay.  Still pretty sore, though things continue to improve day by day.  My head has actually been really really sore this time, mostly with the migraine, but with clusters not as frequent.  Usually after my surgeries, I have very low level of migraine and no clusters for the first 7-10 days.  Probably having CH about 2 times a day right now, and the migraine is actually quite painful.  I think this is because there was so much scar tissue above my right eye that they had to really push the lead through all that, and he also wanted to position the lead very far towards the center of my head, so there is definitely some soreness there.  I've started using the stimulator at low levels.

This coming Wednesday, I go to the headache center for an appt and will meet with the company rep to work on some programming of the stim, so we'll see how that goes!  I'm looking forward to seeing what we can do with this thing!

My mom came back over this morning to help me wash my hair and change the bandages again.  The other night, changing the bandages was actually really painful as we were pulling all this sticky tape off my sensitive skin, but today was much much easier!  So far, the incisions are healing well!

So overall, things are moving in a positive direction!  I'm hoping the pain will start easing up even more here shortly!

Hugz,
Carrie

hope things continue to improve.  Great job

PF thoughts from Montana.

      Potter