There I had many wires connected to me along with an IV, a catheter and large white plastic "boots". These “boots” covered my feet to my thighs and slowly puffed up with air then deflated in a continuous pattern - this put pressure on my legs to ensure good circulation and prevent blood clots. These were to be kept on until I could get up and walk about. A nurse told me that some people enjoyed this massage but I found the boots uncomfortable and annoying, which gave me the incentive to be up and about. Removal of the catheter was another incentive to get up - the next day saw me shuffling down the corridor to the washroom!

My mother and sister were allowed to visit me soon after I was settled in Neuro ICU. I gleefully demonstrated the disappearance of my HFS. I felt very well, laying there propped up and we chatted for about 1 ½ hours. It was then that the anaesthesia began wearing off and I was given morphine, but it didn’t seem to help. The nurse doubled the dose but it still had no effect. Morphine, it turns out, doesn’t work for some people and unfortunately, I was one of them. Demerol causes me to hallucinate and codeine upsets my stomach, which was already nauseous. All the hospital could offer me was regular strength Tylenol. The pain came and went, and the surges of pain were brutal and lasted for up to 2 hours at a time. It was as if someone had taken a baseball bat to the back of my head. I was kept in the hospital an extra day because of the pain. I admit there were a few times, while in the hospital and during the next two weeks at home, when I had serious doubts about having had the operation because of the pain. It was difficult to sleep in the hospital because of the noise and the pain. They woke me every hour to take my vitals and ask the same questions: "Where are you? What day is it? What is your name?"

During the next two weeks at home I had severe pain on and off. Also nausea and an incredibly sensitive sense of smell. My hearing was also very sensitive. Along with all this, I couldn’t sleep - not always because of the pain - I was an insomniac for months of an inexplicable cause. Because of a bad taste in my mouth everything I ate or drank tasted strange and unpleasant and that also took months to go away. After a week, for just a few days, when I touched the right side of my face it hurt like it was bruised. I looked in the mirror and it looked fine. Dr. Honey explained that there may have been some swelling of the nerves making them sensitive. I spoke in whispers because just the force of talking hurt my head - coughing was out of the question. I shuffled about the house or sat outside in the fresh air. My mother and sister took great care of me.

It took two weeks to reach my turning point, when the pain became more manageable. I kept the tensor bandage on my head for two weeks as instructed by Dr. Honey. After ten days I went to my family doctor to have my stitches removed. She was really impressed by the careful stitching that Dr. Honey had done. I wore the tensor another four days but did manage to get my hair washed before I put it back on, finding blobs of airplane glue still stuck to my scalp!