Bobble head.

[Ovie]

Anybody have bobble head like symptoms after their surgery? I'll just be sitting or laying down and my head will almost bobble around on it's own, even
If I try to keep it still.granted today is only day 4 of healing and being put and take off meds,I've had ruses and even a doctor check it out, the doctor said she didn't think it was neurological but wasn't sure what it was. It's very annoying and figured I'd see if anyone else had similar effects and if they knew why?

 

[markp66]

Hi, glad you are recovering well! I've never heard of such a thing!!! Hopefully this will disappear within a week or so. Hopefully others can be more helpful.

 

[Superman]

Welcome to the other side, Ovie!

All I can say is that it's very difficult to predict how your body will respond to the earthquake that just hit it. As you have read on these forums, recovery experiences have run the gamut from completely uneventful to long term stays in ICU.

I'd work with your doctors and other medical staff and see how this plays out. It's probably a reaction to some narcotic pain medication and you may want to try switching those up. I mentioned before that vicodin didn't agree with me at all and had to switch to tramadol. Felt like I was going to black out on Vicodin. Could just be light-headedness you're experiencing.

One thing I had that I dont see posted a lot is hypersenstitivity in my teeth. Anything cold hurt like crazy. I had to brush with sensodyne and drink room temperature beverages through a straw. Oh, and anything sweet. Candy, cake, cookies, chocolate - anything was absolutely gross. Couldn't eat any of it until over two months into my recovery. Lost a lot of weight as a result - so that was actually kind of good.

But definitely bring up any concerns with your medical staff. It's always good to know if it's something serious or just a normal side effect of recovery.

 

[Ovie]

Yeah, im working with my surgeons team. I've also noticed to never again try and compare myself to others symptoms and expect the ones. Alot of people claim they didn't have chest pain or discomfort, completely opposite for me. Also stomach pains that are beyond measurable on a pain scale. I was so nervous that I ended up trying to compare to others when I should of expected anything.

That being said, a doctor on my surgeons team said that the weird bobbling may have to do with and I quote him " something called pump head" he said he doesn't see it being around for along time, but keep an eye on it. Luckily I was on in heart/lung machine for about 45 mins so I shouldnt have too many side effects fro
It, but keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[escargome]

You are right Ovie, don't compare yourself to anyone. We all go through different stuff and heal in totally different ways. Just take it slow. To have only been on the heart/lung machine for around 45 minutes is a good thing. Maybe the stomach pain is your body's reaction to a medication you are taking. Also your head bobbing around, is it possibly in rythm with your heart beat? I know for me right after surgery for a couple of weeks I could have sworn that my head was nodding in conjunction with my heart beat which I could feel really strongly in my neck. Just take it slow my friend. Your body is still in the "whoa! what the heck ran me over" stage. Take it one day at a time, it will all settle down soon. I will keep you in my thoughts and hope that your recovery continues on a good path.

 

[Bina]

My nurses started me right away on Zantac for the stomach digestive issues which are common.
And regarding the messed up head, well by Day 4, I was just firguring out what day it was. But things
improved quickly after that (pump head wise). Switching to Tylenol also helped me stay "straight" and
comprehensive.

 

[epstns]

Ovie - Keep a close watch on the digestive issues. I don't mean to scare you (I don't think much of this scares you anyway, by now), but I had such nasty digestive complications that 4 weeks after surgery I was re-admitted to the hospital for a few days. I was so constipated that I couldn't eat or sleep comfortably. Of course, they took care of that (had their sparkling magnesium citrate cocktail at the hospital), but the entire experience could have been avoided. If you are having digestive symptoms, be sure to discuss with your docs. They may prescribe something to be taken as needed and avoid the discomfort. Also, this soon after surgery, they don't want the patient straining.

 

[Greg a]

I for one don't see any signs of Pump Head AKA Postperfusion syndrome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postperfusion_syndrome all of your posts seem logical and coherent

 

[Ovie]

Ovie - Keep a close watch on the digestive issues. I don't mean to scare you (I don't think much of this scares you anyway, by now), but I had such nasty digestive complications that 4 weeks after surgery I was re-admitted to the hospital for a few days. I was so constipated that I couldn't eat or sleep comfortably. Of course, they took care of that (had their sparkling magnesium citrate cocktail at the hospital), but the entire experience could have been avoided. If you are having digestive symptoms, be sure to discuss with your docs. They may prescribe something to be taken as needed and avoid the discomfort. Also, this soon after surgery, they don't want the patient straining.

Fortunately I've had bowel movements, it took a few days, but I'd say they're consistent now, I'm on stool softners so those help, my stomach problems occur mainly when I've eaten something, or drank a good amount of liquids and my stomach just rumbles painfully, is imagine meds have a factor also.

As far as the bobble head thing it's still doing it, I'm going to regard it as some kind of post symptom and keep my eye on it, if it continues on I'll really work on having it checked out. The body is a precious thing and will take longer to repair itself than the brain, just gotta make sure to keep it easy. I'll start CR about week 2-3 so I'm looking forward to that!

Greg I too was reading my posts and they all seemed to make sense, some spelling errors but not sure if it is pump head related. It was rather shocking to see how quickly I woke up and was coherent, kind of scared me to be honest, made me feel like they did something wrong.

 

[epstns]

No, nothing wrong. I was up and awake, answering emails on my cell phone as soon as I was out of the ICU. Kind of strange - go through such a major surgery yet parts of you get right back to life. That's a good sign.

 

[bradvo]

I blame my short term memory loss on the pump.........I doubt it had anything to do with it bit it works for me. :biggrin2: