Good for you, RWJ! Thanks for your detailed description of the post-surgery process and how you've been improving with vestibular therapy. You've taken my fears down a notch.
Well, its been 14 days since my Laby surgery and physically, I am OK, the cut behind my ear feels like its healed up, I don't feel any of the stitches any more (they were self dissolving) and I've been able to sleep on that side for several days now without discomfort. Balance wise, I am leaps and bounds ahead of where I was just days ago. I can now walk and turn my head with hardly any discomfort or vertigo at all and the odd movements like tilting my head from side to side only cause slight dizzyness (I'm not sure its even dizzyness anymore, more like a weird feeling that's uncomfortable) and even that starts to go away the more I do it. I've been pushing myself pretty hard, balancing on each foot individually, running in the back yard, walking while purposefully turning and tilting my head, anything I can do to challenge myself and my balance, and its paying off. Truth be told, I'd much rather be sitting down and resting my head against the back of my recliner, but the more you move the better off you are and the faster you'll recover. Its uncomfortable and sometimes makes you nauseous, but it pays off the following day with less discomfort. I've also driven my vehicle for a couple of short drives (the wife went with me on both) the first one was a couple of days ago and was only a couple of miles up to the local hardware store. It was uncomfortable, the acceleration and turning caused some dizzyness and nausea. It was also my first time out in public (I was too off balance to go any sooner) and I was OK, I don't believe anyone at the store thought there was anything wrong with me at all. The drive home was much better. I also went out for a short drive around the neighborhood yesterday and it was fine, almost no dizzyness at all. I still have moments of off balance, where I'll be moving and maybe bend down to pick something up and perhaps I'm moving a bit too quickly and then lose my balance, etc. but I get it back quickly and I haven't fallen yet. I think with time those types of issues will go away and/or become less frequent. My ear still has some ringing, not as loud as with the MM, but still there. The pressure and the feeling of fluid buildup is gone and its much more comfortable in general. Before the surgery I was worried about hearing, but I feel like I can actually hear better even though I have lost all hearing in the affected ear. At this point, I would recommend the surgery to anyone as I feel like I'll be back to normal in a few more weeks and all of this will be behind me. For anyone having the surgery, I'm sure its different for everyone, but push yourself, get up and move your head, the more you do the faster your brain learns to compensate for the loss of balance input from the affected side and the faster you're back to normal. Stay well everyone!
I'm so happy to hear of your continued recovery. It sounds like you are on a great track. My laby is a couple weeks away and I'm really hoping for such a smooth recovery. You read horror stories on the internet and it makes me so very nervous about the aftermath. Pushing myself from the comfort of being seated/lying down will be a challenge but your story is very encouraging. Did you get any kind of aid/implant with the procedure? My doc is going to put a BAHA in at the same time when he does the laby.
Also, are you able (and how soon were you able) do do self care and stuff around the house? My husband will have a couple days off to help me (he's an ENT so back to the OR he goes by the end of the week) but then I have extended family coming in to help for two, 2-week chunks after that. I am hoping at that point I can be self sufficient and take care of the basics, although that will mean driving too. I have three kids with various needs and they also have to be driven to various places all week long. I'm hoping after a month or so I will be up to the task. As it is, I haven't been driving for over a month due to the unrelenting vertigo attacks and looking forward to putting that behind me.
I did not have a BAHA mount put in, although my doctor was pushing for it. I wanted to see how the hearing was first before having a metal stud put in my skull. At this point I'm gonna go on without it for now. I was in the hospital for about 2 1/2 days (Thursday early - day of operation, and I left on Sat morning.) and I was able to move around on my own by that time (I was actually up and moving around on Friday at the hospital) I just didn't like it as moving caused much discomfort in the way of vertigo, that and the rehab people were concerned about me falling down due to the vertigo and so they wouldn't let me go home until I walked several times for them and did some stairs and stepped in and out of a bathtub/shower, etc..(in their rehab room) I told them I had plenty of practice moving around with vertigo due to the MM, but that aside, I was able to take a shower, and move freely around the house when I got home, just slowly and with caution. If you're recovery is like mine, then you'll appreciate the couple of days that your husband is home to help because you'll want to move as little as possible. After two weeks you'll probably be feeling almost back to normal. Driving is a whole different ball game, I didn't even want to attempt it until I was able to walk without much vertigo and even then it was challenging. Unless something changes drastically, by the time a month has passed for me I believe I'll be 100%. Good luck to you with your surgery and recovery! I'm sure once you're done, like me, you'll be looking forward to a vertigo free life! If you, or anyone, has any other questions about anything I didn't cover, please feel free, I'm happy to share my experience.
Thank you again. So incredibly helpful (and reassuring) to hear from someone who has been through the process. Believe it or not, barring any surgical complications, mine will be done outpatient. Surgery around noon and home that night. Which i fully realiZe means I’ll need even more support from my husband right out of the gate. Thanks again for sharing your story and keep us posted on your progress.
Mine was supposed to be too but because I couldn't keep anything down and the amount of vertigo, they kept me. I hope yours is better!
Right on track....I predict in 2 more weeks you will be doing 80 down the hey and making vacation plans to go to the ocean and water ski, surf, ride bikes and anything else your heart desires. Good luck and enjoy the rest of your normal life. MM will be a distant memory and you will probably leave this board forever but your posts will live on and help others feeling lost and helpless about this crap disease. Great job from one laby person to another....go enjoy life on your terms now !! Cheers
PleaseNoDizzy, RWJ, I'm so jealous that you both nearly had outpatient surgery for the laby. I didn't know they could do that. I was in hospital for 5 days for my VNS. Surgery was 5 hours. Recovery took months. And I'm still not dizzy-free because they didn't cut the whole nerve. Having another VNS this winter. I mean, we're all in our own situation. My hearing in bad ear is good enough to save it, and going bilateral is a concern...so VNS is my choice. But yeah, on a purely emotional level, I'm super jealous of you guys. And happy for you of course.
Pupper, my doc is planning to keep me in hospital 2-3 days post laby to stabilize before releasing me. The difference in approaches is interesting.