MVD Diary - Julie Gallucci
Tuesday, January, 27, 2009 - Departure and Pre-surgery Testing:
I arrived in Pittsburgh had my hearing exam and also my EMG, which were all fine. The EMG was a little uncomfortable. They basically shock your face every few seconds to see how the nerves respond. After they finished, Dr. Small told me I was the classic HFS patient. I called to find out that my surgery was 8:30 a.m the next morning and I had to be there at 6:30 a.m., which was perfect since I had to fast and I could just wake up and get it over with. P>Wednesday, January 28, 2009 – "MVD DAY":
I was pretty worried leading up to today. I generally worry about a lot of things so you could only imagine the type of stuff that was going through my head. Ironically, I was pretty calm the morning of the surgery. My husband and I arrived just at 6:30, we were admitted pretty quickly, and we were in the holding area until about 7:30. They took me down to the 3rd floor prepping room where I said goodbye to my husband and laid there waiting for all to begin. This is where I met the Anesthesiologist, Lance, who was fantastic. He had me laughing much of the time and basically stayed with me most of the time I was in the holding room. He explained that I would have the IV, which he was putting in now, and then while I was under they would put another one in along with a breathing tube. The next thing I knew, I was back in the same holding room and there were people around me asking how I felt, wake up, etc... I could immediately feel there was no twitch! Next I knew Dr. Sekula was there telling me that I did great and that he had already seen my husband and explained everything to him. He was kind enough to even draw my husband a picture of what he did. Basically, I had a 4" hole in my head and they inserted the Teflon pads around the facial nerve. They did not have to cut anything, which was good. They covered my skull up with cement and my incision is about 3" long and glued shut. Dr. Sekula, asked how my hearing was and I was like I think ok... He put his fingers together next to my ear and rubbed them back and forth and I knew that I could hear. This was something I was concerned I might lose. That evening I was a bit concerned because my head felt like it was building pressure above my eyes. They sent me for a CT scan and all was fine. I was given steroids along with my pain medications and I felt great thereafter. I slept well except for waking up once to get some more medications.
Thursday, January 29, 2009 – Day 1 Post-Op:
Dr. Sekula came by and asked if I had gotten up yet to take a walk, I looked at him like he was crazy, to pick my head up off the pillow was still tough as I felt like a "bobble head doll".. He helped me out of bed and walked with me down the hall. I was surprised how well I actually felt once I was up and moving. He told me to make sure I was up walking every two hours. He answered a lot of my questions, told me how well I was doing. My husband loved him because he truly calmed me down. Dr. Sekula made sure I stopped worrying about all the "what ifs" you may read about when you come to this website. He had me concentrating on my case only, which I needed to hear. I chose to stay another day since I was from out of town and I was actually resting quite well in the hospital. The Nurses and staff at AGH were fantastic. I never was nauseous and although the left side of my head hurt, I was amazed that it was not the type of pain I expected. I thought I would have bad headaches. I can honestly say I never had an actual headache and I was expecting migraine type pain. My real pain is just around the incision area and the left side of my head.
Friday, January 30, 2009 – Day 2 Post-Op:
I had one last visit from Dr. Sekula. He went through all that I could do for the next few days. He advised that I should get myself moving around as it was the best thing for me. I was able to leave the hospital about 2:30 p.m. and we headed to the hotel. Once back at the hotel, I rested for a little bit and we ordered dinner in. I ate very small amounts the whole time I was in the hospital, and again tonight I ate a small meal. I always felt as if I needed to at least eat a little something, it kept me from feeling nauseous. I again slept pretty well.
Saturday, January 31, 2009 – Day 3 Post-Op:
We got up went to Breakfast downstairs and then walked across the street to the sports museum. We left for the airport as my husband was flying home and my Mom was coming in. My Mom and I then went to lunch. I rested again for a few hours in the afternoon and then we went out for dinner. As long as I was taking my pain medication "still on Percocet" I was well. I again slept fine.
Sunday, February 1, 2009, – Day 4 Post-Op:
Super Bowl Sunday in Pittsburgh, it was crazy since the Steeler's were playing in the Super Bowl. My mother and I went out to Church and then walked around the Strip District. My energy was coming back and I felt pretty good. I now was off the Percocet and only on Motrin. Other than a little bit of facial weakness on my left side, mainly down around my mouth area, I seemed to be doing real well. The pain was getting better every day. No sign of twitching still!.
Monday, February 2, 2009, – Day 5 Post-Op:
I went out for a 2-hour walk throughout Pittsburgh. It felt great to get out and move around.
Tuesday, February 3, 2009, – Day 6 Post-Op:
I returned to see Dr. Sekula, the facial weakness he believes should be gone within 6-12 months, as the nerve needs to regenerate. It is not horrible but only noticeable when I smile; my one side of my mouth does not go all the way up. It is a little uncomfortable when I drink in that I have to try hard to pucker that side, it feels a little like when you go to the dentist and you get Novocain and it begins to where off. He warned me of possible Bells Palsy that could happen within the first two weeks. So far I have been fine. He indicated if it did occur that this also should go away within 6-12 weeks. One other strange feeling is that your face and your ears start feeling sensitive to the touch. As I understand it, the reason you feel this is that when they cut through some of the nerves that feed into your face and ear area, they begin to grow back in time and you have this sensitivity at first as they are coming back. This is a bit of a strange feeling, as you almost feel real sore. It did not start until about a week after the surgery. Dr. Sekula let me know that the only reason they would want me back in Pittsburgh was if my incision site was leaking. This is something, in the rare case that it happens, they would like to fix personally. He told me this is quite rare and they generally only have a few cases a year. I was told still no lifting over 5 lbs., which is tough when you have young children. No driving for two weeks or unless you are able to turn your head quick enough. I am out of work for at least another 3-6 weeks depending upon how well I recover and when I have most of my energy back. Hoping for 2-3 weeks. Other than that I should be able to do everything I want to in 4 weeks time. I just want to say if you are looking to have this done, AGH was fantastic, you may experience their staff being slow to get back in touch, but bear with it as the Doctors were fantastic. Dr. Sekula truly made every effort to ensure that I was comfortable and informed. He obviously has been trained well by Dr. Jannetta. So we headed to the airport, flying was completely fine. I slept the whole way home. Unfortunately, once home I was not sleeping all that well because the sensitivity piece I spoke about above started to really bother me.
Wednesday - Thursday, February 3-4 , 2009, – Day 7-8 Post-Op:
Sleeping pretty well. The sensitivity on my face is now starting to go down. The pain is definitely starting to be less and less each day. I can go for longer periods with Motrin and Tylenol than before. My strength is coming back and I am eating fine. I basically have been walking regularly each day. Still no twitching, the mouth seems to be a little better, the only thing that I am experiencing is a little bit of dry eye on my left side, again from the facial weakness on that side my eye is open just a little wider than the right one. You really can't tell unless you’re looking for it.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009 - 4 Weeks Post-Op:
I went back to work today. It was a little tough later in the day and I left a little early to get home without having to sit in traffic. I feel great, not yet ready to work out just yet, I am thinking of trying that next week. My incision has healed nicely and my facial weakness has improved already. I can actually pucker my mouth and also whistle. No more sensitivity on my face. Also, I seem to be getting back my taste buds on the left side, which I had lost. I was told by Dr. Jannetta’s office that this is not that typical they only get a few patients a year who complain of this. Otherwise doing well and still spasm free.