I was given a Popsicle and almost immediately threw it up. As I did, I could hear fluid in my head and feel pressure like my head was an egg about to crack.
At some point, the surgeon came in. Among other things, he asked me to grip his fingers with my hands, and then push down on his hands with my feet.
I couldn't. My left side was worthless. This didn't bother me until I tried to reach for my water bottle in the middle of the night. I probably didn't even know there was a problem until then.
I don't believe the doctor was expecting this. I wasn't either. I thought the purpose of the awake craniotomy was to minimize such complications such as paralysis. Come to find out, some of my family wondered if I would walk again.
For about five days, I was given my maintenance meds, steroids for swelling, and morphine for pain. Because I couldn't walk, assistance was needed when I needed to go the the bathroom. One has to check one's modesty at the door of a hospital.
Note: Steroids suck. They make you look like a blowfish, and they keep you up all night!
Things weren't improving enough, so I was sent to another hospital, where I received intensive rehabilitation.
At this juncture, I still don't know anything about the tumor the doctor resected, such as whether it's malignant, or what kind of tumor it is. But I can tell I lost a big piece of my mind.
Would I permanently lose use of my left side? It would take a while, but we would get our answer.
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