Brain Surgery In June-- Nervous

Hi everyone, 

It's been a while since I posted here, and am wondering if anyone has gone through what I am, and if you have, if you have any words of wisdom or can relate at all. I got diagnosed with IIH (idiopathic intracranial hypertension) back in September of 2015 (though had been having symptoms for a couple of months before), and have been going through hell since. Luckily headaches haven't been a huge issue for me, though I get pretty bad ones a good dozen or so times a month. I am allergic to the main medication to treat it, and I have had papilledema, dizziness, and BY FAR worst of all, pulsatile tinnitus. 24/7 I hear the whooshing of my heartbeat in my right ear. After lots of tests and specialists and being poked and prodded in more places than I ever thought possible they figured out that one reason for the whooshing in my ear is because I have narrowed blood vessels in one side of my brain (despite me loosing LOTS of weight, and being 'normal' size, my symptoms persisted). And so now in June I am going to be getting brain surgery to get a 4 inch stent put in my brain. My neurosurgeon is hoping that by opening up the blood vessels and allowing the blood to flow more freely, it will take away the pressure from the other side, and I won't hear the whooshing. 

So my main question is-- has anyone ever had this kind of operation before? What was the recovery like? I was told I will be in the hospital for a few days and had to stay in the city for one or two days after that just in case. How bad is being on blood thinners? How much does it hurt in your head? (that sounds weird... but they're putting it in through angio... so I'm not sure how much head pain there will be). 

Any comments or experience would be appreciated! Thanks! 

~*~ Midnight Sun ~*~

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