Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Nea's Mom on August 14, 2010 at 8:58pm

Hi Sandie,

Nea was 19, too, when she had her craniotomy. That was March 2009. She was in intense pain the first days after surgery. We found that adjusting her meds helped.... she was taking Fiorecet and Norco. They had her taking these at 4 hour intervals... we switched to her getting each at 4 hours, but in 2 hour staggers... so Fiorecet at 8 and 12 and Norco at 10 and 2, etc. One was for her pain due to the incision and the other was for headaches (if I remember correctly).

Anyway, once the meds were adjusted, she didn't have constant pain but still would have pretty severe pain when it did occur.

But the times between the headaches lengthened... first by hours then by days. It seemed to take forever but by 4 weeks it seemed she only had a bad headached every 4 days or so. By 8 weeks, it was really just occassionally. And now she has no headaches.

So I hope Kasey will have a similar recovery... that soon she'll have some relief and then lot's of relief.

hugs to you and her.

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Permalink Reply by Maggie Chase on August 17, 2010 at 7:57pm

I had my craniotomy in Dec. and never had hugh amounts of pain until I would get cold and shiver. Even now if I get cold I have to hold my head and just go get warm.

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Permalink Reply by Sandie Alger(Kasey's mom) on August 17, 2010 at 9:38pm

thank you so much for your reply. Everything suddenly changed for the better when I switched her from Dilaudid to Fioricet and got her an anti-nausea script, which she only used twice..but was a godsend. After 6 days out and we finally got her meds adjusted and everything turned around. She is doing great. She is pretty much back to normal even! Will return to college in 5 days. :)

Nea's Mom said:

Hi Sandie,

Nea was 19, too, when she had her craniotomy. That was March 2009. She was in intense pain the first days after surgery. We found that adjusting her meds helped.... she was taking Fiorecet and Norco. They had her taking these at 4 hour intervals... we switched to her getting each at 4 hours, but in 2 hour staggers... so Fiorecet at 8 and 12 and Norco at 10 and 2, etc. One was for her pain due to the incision and the other was for headaches (if I remember correctly).

Anyway, once the meds were adjusted, she didn't have constant pain but still would have pretty severe pain when it did occur.

But the times between the headaches lengthened... first by hours then by days. It seemed to take forever but by 4 weeks it seemed she only had a bad headached every 4 days or so. By 8 weeks, it was really just occassionally. And now she has no headaches.

So I hope Kasey will have a similar recovery... that soon she'll have some relief and then lot's of relief.

hugs to you and her.

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Permalink Reply by Nea's Mom on August 18, 2010 at 6:48pm

I'm so glad to hear that Kasey is doing much better!

Did she have a bleed? Reason I ask is that we found that Nea seemed ready to start back at university the follwing September but still had huge issues (memory, exhaustion, concentration, etc). You might want to talk with the college about resources for Kasey for her medical issues. She will most likely be able to request a special environment for taking tests and extra time for tests if she has concentration issues. She might qualify for other assistance as well.

But I'm sure it's a huge relief to know she's on the road to recovery!

Best wishes,


Sandie Alger(Kasey's mom) said:

thank you so much for your reply. Everything suddenly changed for the better when I switched her from Dilaudid to Fioricet and got her an anti-nausea script, which she only used twice..but was a godsend. After 6 days out and we finally got her meds adjusted and everything turned around. She is doing great. She is pretty much back to normal even! Will return to college in 5 days. :)

Nea's Mom said:

Hi Sandie,

Nea was 19, too, when she had her craniotomy. That was March 2009. She was in intense pain the first days after surgery. We found that adjusting her meds helped.... she was taking Fiorecet and Norco. They had her taking these at 4 hour intervals... we switched to her getting each at 4 hours, but in 2 hour staggers... so Fiorecet at 8 and 12 and Norco at 10 and 2, etc. One was for her pain due to the incision and the other was for headaches (if I remember correctly).

Anyway, once the meds were adjusted, she didn't have constant pain but still would have pretty severe pain when it did occur.

But the times between the headaches lengthened... first by hours then by days. It seemed to take forever but by 4 weeks it seemed she only had a bad headached every 4 days or so. By 8 weeks, it was really just occassionally. And now she has no headaches.

So I hope Kasey will have a similar recovery... that soon she'll have some relief and then lot's of relief.

hugs to you and her.

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Permalink Reply by mary kate on August 19, 2010 at 8:10pm

Hi...I had a craniotomy in November...i was still on morphine 5 days following the surgery (is she still in the hospital?) I had severe pain for 2 weeks...morphine for a week followed by percocet...then i went home with perscription strength tylenol which didnt work...continued having horrible headaches...switched from tylenol to fioricet after about 2 month...fioricet worked for about 2 months and then stopped having an effect. i currently take darvocet which doesnt work...have headaches everday and basically try to ignore them and live with it to the best of my ability.

Good luck to your daughter...i hope u find something to help alleviate the pain

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Permalink Reply by Sandie Alger(Kasey's mom) on August 20, 2010 at 6:53am

I'm sorry to hear you still have pain. What does your doc say about that? Kasey is just 12 days out and is so much better. I hope it stays that way. she just takes Extra strength Tylenol now and only once or twice a day. It's awful to endure headaches everyday. I hope you can find some relief.

mary kate said:

Hi...I had a craniotomy in November...i was still on morphine 5 days following the surgery (is she still in the hospital?) I had severe pain for 2 weeks...morphine for a week followed by percocet...then i went home with perscription strength tylenol which didnt work...continued having horrible headaches...switched from tylenol to fioricet after about 2 month...fioricet worked for about 2 months and then stopped having an effect. i currently take darvocet which doesnt work...have headaches everday and basically try to ignore them and live with it to the best of my ability.

Good luck to your daughter...i hope u find something to help alleviate the pain

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Permalink Reply by Sandie Alger(Kasey's mom) on August 20, 2010 at 6:58am

Oh, and no, she was only in the hospital 2 nights. She probably should have stayed at least another day, but they were willing to let her go and we were being pulled to return back home because meanwhile her little brother was suffering from a ruptured appendix. I had 2 kids have 2 major surgeries in 2 different cities in 2 dAYS.. It was crazy. Thank goodness for the strength (and self-employment) of my dear husband. We had to split up and tag team our children's care. But they are both healing quite well now. Both are all stapled up. I call then my zipper kids---a little humor never hurts. :)

Sandie Alger(Kasey's mom) said:

I'm sorry to hear you still have pain. What does your doc say about that? Kasey is just 12 days out and is so much better. I hope it stays that way. she just takes Extra strength Tylenol now and only once or twice a day. It's awful to endure headaches everyday. I hope you can find some relief.

mary kate said:

Hi...I had a craniotomy in November...i was still on morphine 5 days following the surgery (is she still in the hospital?) I had severe pain for 2 weeks...morphine for a week followed by percocet...then i went home with perscription strength tylenol which didnt work...continued having horrible headaches...switched from tylenol to fioricet after about 2 month...fioricet worked for about 2 months and then stopped having an effect. i currently take darvocet which doesnt work...have headaches everday and basically try to ignore them and live with it to the best of my ability.

Good luck to your daughter...i hope u find something to help alleviate the pain

• ▶ Reply