We returned from Gainesville about an hour ago. It has been a really long day and it was really hard on Holly. She is going to be exhausted tomorrow. It is about 3.5 hours door to door, times two ways, plus two hours to get through the docs office, plus a quick meal and it all equals a really long 10 hour day for me and an especially tiring day for Holly. We met with one of the team of neurosurgeons, Dr. Whiting, we had not met her before, she was young and pretty technical. We asked all of our questions:

1. Insomnia = may continue for months but should lesson with time, take sleeping pills if necessary
2. Scab on incision = this was the only real concern of the doctors, there is still a large scab (see pic at bottom of blog) it is normal and is not infected, but the scab needs to stay in place for a few more weeks to properly heal, there will be a dent there but it is still really attached and a deep scab, there is no puss or leaking so it is fine just let it heal
3. Pooping = take laxatives if necessary, common after a major surgery to have poop problems for 6-8 weeks
4. Driving = not until Holly feels like it, after the drive to Gainesville she has had alot of vertigo, she is not to drive until she feels like she can, she said this could be a while and dont rush it and have a wreck
5. Swimming = ok but dont get the scab real wet, fine to get head wet after scab falls off in a few weeks
6. Numbness to head = may last forever, may get better with time, Holly has a numb spot where the scull was removed and has a major itching sensation there and when she scratches it she can't feel her scalp and can't satisfy the itch, it could drive you loco
7. Five pound lifting ban = removed, she is free to pick up the kids
8. Clicking noise in head = not very common, unknown cause, thinks it will go away with time
9. Jaw not opening very far = common may get better with time maybe not, they had to cut one of the muscles which controls the jaw and the swelling is causing resistance with opening her mouth very far
10. Lower back pain = may be low grade urinary tract infection, they had Holly pee in a cup to analyze for possible infection as a precaution

They said everything looks great, their only real concern was the scab staying in place so the incision could heal properly. We then met with Yolanda, the PA, who was the one who was so helpful on the phone several times with the pain med issues. Then Dr. Hoh came in for a meet and greet and he took a look at the scar. He said there would be a CT angiogram at 6 months, 1, 2, and 4 years post surgery. He said there is a less than a 1% of having another aneurysm or having another one form at the base of this one they clipped. Holly and I joked that she is just a lab rat with a number and is part of a study Dr. Hoh is conducting. God Bless you all!!!