My Experience

I had a craniotomy for a meningioma. There was the possibility that the tumor would grow and interrupt the blood flow through my brain. I was told to come to the hospital two hours ahead of my 7 a.m. time, but as soon as my husband, son and best friend and I arrived, we were told that the reception area did not open until 7a.m., so we had to wait elsewhere. For two hours we chatted and waited to be called into the prep room. Things proceeded much better from there. We met my anesthesiologist. My surgeon then came to say hello and sweetly comforted me. He took my CDs from my healing program (Prepare for Surgery, Heal Faster from Peggy Huddleston) so that they could play during my surgery. My son held my hand, my husband rubbed my feet and then they all sang a song that my rabbi had composed for the occasion: “Angels are watching you, loving and surrounding you everywhere you go.” I was feeling calm and protected.

After the surgery I was very thirsty but unfortunately they would only give me ice chips in intensive care. The change of shift nurses finally gave me water after 6 hours. Other than that I felt fairly OK, given the circumstances. The intensive care staff was fabulous. Then I was transferred to a deluxe room for which I paid a lot of money. That turned
out to be the worst part of my stay: poor care, lots of noise, and lack of privacy.

My surgeon had said to expect to be in the hospital for 3-5 days. After less than 48 hours from being admitted, my surgeon said I was recovering so well I could be discharged.