5 days post op. Wow. This is not what I anticipated. My question is for all who have gone through this
How long does the swelling last? My face and head are totally numb on the side of the surgery. How long before sensation comes back?
Any advice would greatly be appreciated
TIA
Hi there, I'm afraid in my experience your in for the long haul. I think it was about three weeks to a month because I could even open my mouth to eat as the muscles had been cut by my temples... Of course it will depend on where on you head they went it but if there is some advice I could offer it would be to write down each day how you are and where you are in your healing because this will help you see you are improving over time even though it may feel endless and hopeless at the time. Have patience with yourself, try to love yourself well and thank your body every day for surviving what it has and healing as best it can. Good luck, best wishes and I wish I'd had this resource in the early days, it would have helped a lot. X
I agree, you're in for a long haul. Patience is the key, your specialist nurse will be there to support you, talk to her, be kind to yourself. Your body has been through a big trauma, give it love and patience and Time. Good luck and best wishes
Thank you so much for your reply. I cannot open my mouth to eat either. It’s good to talk to people who have gone thru the same thing. It’s not easy. I hope you’re doing better … gives me hope for the future
Keep the faith in what your body can do if we speak kindly to is and push gently for improvement. I kept trying to open my mouth wider and wider every day, but with care and gentleness. It did improve slowly and over maybe three weeks I was actually able to bite into a sandwich which felt wonderful to finally have a mouth full of food that I could chew!
Love yourself well. I had to learn this massive lesson which is hard. I had always been the kind of person who was extremely hard on myself, as so many of us are... what we all need to do to heal on many levels is to be compassionate to ourselves. I believe this ripples out into the world and help others to do the same.
Lots of love to you, and all who read this.
Thank you 🥰🥰
Hi there!
Firstly big love to you for hanging in there! It certainly is quite overwhelming I know. Immediately post craniotomy I was also completely numb from the top of my head to the entire left side of my face. The black eyes and swelling eased after about 10 days. I’m pleased to say that my numbness eased over the following six weeks but has never left me entirely - I still have sensation issues on the left side of my head and face.
The thing to remember is that your body is doing all it can to heal and this takes time but you will make progress and in time be able to look back at what your amazing body has done for you!
All the very best healing wishes for you xx
Hi, I’m 10 weeks post op. I had 3 meningiomas removed, the largest pressing on my optic nerve. My black eye was gone within the first week. My numbness has subsided gradually and is now just a strip about an inch away from the incision line. Swellings came and went in different places but the initial large swelling had reduced at 2 weeks and completely gone at 3 weeks. I now have a very small bump on my temple but nobody else notices it. I was back at my dance class at 6 weeks and although I still get tired some days, I feel very well.
After the first couple of weeks you should feel a little better each day. Do rest as much as you can in the first 2-3 weeks and listen to your body. Accept all help offered! Good luck with your recovery, it’s so good to be on the other side of the operation! Take care of yourself.
Thank you for your reply. You are a true trooper. This is not easy !!! Good to hear other people’s story so I can get an idea of what to expect. 8!days out swelling and numbness are the two major symptoms. Pain is getting better. One day at a time. I am keeping positive 🙏🏻🙏🏻
I wasn't warned about the black eye, half my face was a cracking shade of green as the bruise progressed. I'm glad I was still numb when they took the 50 staples out. I got feeling back gradually over the weeks by 3 months I could feel the incision site.As for the "swelling" that is a whole other story. I have found that swelling is a very general term used to mean all sorts of things.
In my case I had a saucer/ small side plate sized hole milled out of my skull, the tumour had bridged over and was merrily destroying my skull. The large pancake shaped tumour was removed therefore leaving a large hole in my dura ( the water tight outer layer).
I was told to expect some post operative "swelling". From day 12 I have been leaking brain fluid and this has formed a liquid pocket on the side of my head known as a pseudomingocoele. At its biggest I looked like I had half a pear stuck to the side of my head, it filled from my check bone up towards the top of my head, I could feel the liquid move across my forehead when I lay down at night. I also felt very stretched during this filling process. After a week of filling my body started slowly draining the fluid down through my cheek.
That restricted my ability to eat and open wide for the dentist.
I hated travelling in cars on bumpy surfaces because the fluid pocket was jibbled about and that is an unpleasant sensation. It took 3 months before I could tolerate a bus journey longer than 10 minutes. Even shaking a jar of sauce was awful. 8 months on I'm still leaking brain fluid as my dura is still regrowing. The pseudomingocoele is smaller than it was and my hair has grown back so it is hidden.
But I can still feel it jibbling about, you can see it pulsing with my heart rate and watching me eat is gross. It's like putting an elastic band across a balloon filled with water as my chewing muscles compress the fluid.
You will need to find out how you have been reconstructed to truly know what lies ahead.
For now keep your ahead above your heart and don't get out of breath.
Wow. You’ve been through a lot !!!! Praying for a complete recovery and no more pain. It’s been two weeks for me. I had bone removed …but not nearly as much as you 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻. Swelling is getting better. But still can’t open mouth to take a bite of food. Numbness is the same . As they say. One day at a time.
@Thank you for such a thorough description of what takes place after they cut into the dura. It helps me to prepare mentally and plan my environment post-op.
Good luck. 🍀. It does get better. Just not 100%. Be kind to yourself
atypical meningioma 2 aggressive 
intraventricular meningioma
Flying with a meningioma
Meningioma 
