Ian update — day 1 post-op

Quick recap for those catching up: Dr. Friedman and Dr. Schwartz got the whole tumor out. Kyle’s eviction is officially final. 🎉

Turns out it was sticky to both the vestibular and cochlear nerve, making for a tricky dissection, and the hearing signal they monitor during surgery actually dropped out before Dr. Schwartz even got in there, which is unusual. They pushed forward anyway (so grateful they did), and now it’s officially wait-and-see on hearing. When they’ve tapped on the covering over his ear, Ian hasn’t been able to hear it at all, but the nerve itself is intact, there’s no signal right now possibly due to swelling, and steroids/anti-inflammatories are part of the plan to help. We won’t know anything definitive until his hearing test on 7/29. (Happy 21st wedding anniversary to us! 🤍)

The facial nerve exam looked good and symmetric, which was a relief.

I stayed the night with him in the ICU. It was an okay night, he slept a lot and is still wiped out, with a fair amount of spinning/vertigo. The team says that’s expected as his vestibular nerves recalibrate and should ease up noticeably by tomorrow. The more he moves and does the exercises that PT gives us, the better his recovery will be. 

Today he’s doing exactly what he should be at this stage, resting!!, but he’s also being Ian: he was up and sitting in the chair first thing, and made it to the bathroom three times with help already. PT is starting today, and his goals are simple: eat 3 meals, manage the nausea/vertigo, and get moving.
Head pain has eased slightly, and he’ll finally get his own migraine meds today, he couldn’t take them right after surgery since they constrict blood vessels. That alone should help a lot.

Big shoutout to Peter, our nurse both yesterday and today. He’s been incredible, staying on top of medication approvals and getting things moving quickly. Shauna was our nurse overnight and she was like a ninja in the night- stealthy and quiet, but so kind and sweet! Honestly the whole team here has been so responsive, UCSD has been amazing.

One day down- Ian is incredible! 💙