Thank you for your response. It's very much appreciated. I was suppose to return back to work in 2 more days, but it's been extended an additional week. I think the difficult part of recovery is besides the incisions in my head and having no hair, I outwardly look fine! Inward, now that's a different story. Every pain I feel I panic that something is wrong. I don't know what my "new normal" should feel like. The stabbing pains in my abdomen are so alarming but from what I've read in the site, they appear to be typical. I honestly didn't know that I would feel this poor after surgery. My neurosurgeon said I would be in the hospital for 1 overnight, and back to work in 10 days. Neither of which happened.

Hey Nicole,
That "...new normal..." is different for everybody, so to be saying "this is how it should be..." is wrong imo. With every surgery I have had a different result to 'normal'. Like you, my surgeon gave me an expectation of weeks, but since my last operation it has been years (2 almost 3 now) and things still are not right. Now I am being told this is the 'new normal' which I'm not happy about 'cos this is FAR, FAR from anything like normal. I was very frustrated with myself as the dr's had given me an expectation of weeks and it hasn't happened. I pushed myself to reach these expectations and done more harm than good. The dr's talk about 'acceptance' but how do I accept that what I had is gone. This has been and still is the hardest part for me. I do not believe any of us actually go through this knowing how awful bad the recovery can be.
Best of luck with it all and keep us informed of your progress

Merl1n

Thank you again for your response. Today had been a difficult day. I can't lift my head off of my pillow without being in excruciating pain. Even when my bag is down, the headache is just awful and it's been like this for 15 hrs so far. This is awful. Idk if I should wait it out, or if I need to be seen.

Awful?? I use a bit more colourful language personally, but that's me lol.
As for the waiting to see, this is very much a personal decision. For example I was having concerns. I went to my PCP, who told me "...they operated, they fixed. So get back to work..." which I did, but hell, I was unwell. When I went to see the surgeon for a follow up things were BAD. The surgeon got angry with me as I did not go and see him. But to see him I needed a referral from my PCP who said everything was fine. So IMHO, if you have concerns, get it checked out. What's the worst they an say? "There is nothing to worry about..." or leave it and end up with major complications. You, and only you can make this assessment.
Merl1n