2-Month & 3-Month Post-Op Updates

Since I covered POD 4-33 in my "1-Month Post-Op Updates" post, I wanted to continue to log my recovery in months 2 and 3 after my surgery. 

Even though I don't anticipate/hope for a bunch of crazy updates in month 2 of recovery, I wanted to keep up with how I'm feeling for all the lovely people who asked me to keep them updated as I'm healing! 

I have my 3-month in-person appointment with my neurosurgeon on February 18, 2025. So in addition to my recovery notes, I will include how that visit goes and my brain and spine MRI results in this post!

POD 34

I put a shirt over my head for the first time! When taking a tighter tank top off, it touched my scar and I was worried I had messed something up back there, but after a brief freak-out and a confirmational photo, I knew everything was totally fine. I think it’ll just take some time for me to get used to feeling something back there.

POD 36

When I woke up, my dad was shocked and said “You look awesome.” He told me that the “sparkle” was back in my eyes, which made me want to cry. I have been gradually starting to feel like myself again, but it feels like my healing has accelerated so much in the past few days. I feel even more “me” than I felt when my symptoms started worsening in Fall 2023. 

POD 38

I felt a little worse than the day before but still good, I started hearing a cracking/crunching sound in my neck at the site where my operation was performed when I turned my head, especially to the left. The crunching isn’t super loud but freaked me out at first since it was a sound I’m not used to. Despite the weirdness, I’m taking it as a good sign that my mobility is increasing and swelling is going down. If I had to guess, this is most likely crepitus coming from scar tissue after the procedure, so I am going to keep doing my stretches to increase my mobility.  

To help with the crunching and to avoid stiffness, I started doing head-turning stretches. I would turn my head fairly quickly from shoulder to shoulder 10 times, take a break, then do another rep. This will also be good practice to get used to before I start driving again!

POD 40

There’s noticeably less tension in my neck compared to last week which is a huge win. 

In the evening, I started my acetaminophen taper to 500 mg every six hours (from 1000 every six).

POD 42

This marked six weeks after my surgery, and what a great day it was! This holiday panned out much better than Thanksgiving. I’m enjoying feeling so “me” again and it was so exciting to have my first holiday in a while where I felt like I was fully present.

I took my 500 mg of acetaminophen in the evening, marking 2 days of doing this, so I will now taper to 500 mg of acetaminophen every 18 hours instead of every six (I originally planned on doing every 12 hours but I forgot the first dose haha).

POD 45

I completed my next puzzle of the Augusta National Golf Course with my sister!

Fun fact: Bobby Jones, the individual the Bobby Jones Chiari & Syringomyelia Foundation is named after, was the founder of the Augusta National and the Masters Tournament,  is still the only golfer to win all four majors in one year, and he also had syringomyelia! 

POD 46

After three days of taking Tylenol every 18 hours, this was my first day only taking ibuprofen every 6 hours!

Glossary

Crepitus: the sound and sensation of crackling most often associated with air bubbles around joints, but it can also be seen in other tissues (such as scar tissue)