A Pictorial History of My Craniotomy

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Pre-op room. I'm giving the thumbs-up because under the blanket, I'm in a lavender-colored papery gown lined with thin plastic bags attached to a heated air hose. It's like being encased in a warm marshmallow. They may have also started the sedative by this point.


This illustration from Mayfield Clinic shows the pinions used to secure the head during surgery. Those pins are sharp and screwed tightly. I had three HUGE scabs on my head when I got home and kept finding pieces of scab in my hair for several days afterward.

These are the actual interactive MRI images taken during my surgery. The meningioma is all gone!


The first night is spent in the ICU. Flowers are not allowed in the ICU, but llamas are, so my parents-in-law got me one. I call him "Trauma Llama Ding Dong" and Brian calls him "Barack Ob-Llama."

My sister is showing me a card her granddaughter made for me. Notice the red tube on the bottom right; that's my head drainage tube.



Nurses marked the bandage to monitor if the oozing spread. (It didn't.)


A stroll the next evening. I'm walking and talking and bumping into gurneys. 


 A friend asked to see my "junkie arms" one week later. These photos are from at least 10 days after surgery:





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