My girlfriend (30 years old) recently had surgery due for acoustic neuroma. She had about a 2.5cm mass removed from the left side of her head. They operated on her for about ten hours and went behind her left ear.

That was twelve days ago, she was discharged from the hospital after one week. Two days ago she came home from her parents place where she stayed for a few days because it was close to the hospital. The ride home took a little over two hours which irritated her head a bit.

The other day she began complaining of a lot of pressure in her head, and the left side of her head is visibly swollen. She has also started to ween off of the medications that she was given. Initially she was on Ranitide 150mg X 10 days, Dexamethasonel 4mg 12 hr for 2 days, 3mg 12 hr for 2 days, 2mg 12 hr for 2 days, 2mg daily 2 days, 1mg daily for 2 days, and tramcel.

I am concerned that the pressure post-op may be an issue to her brain or pose other risks to her health. The situation is aggrivated by a possible 2 hour drive to Edmonton’s University of Alberta Hospital where she could be seen, which could cause further problems to the area.

Please advise on what the problem could be and if medical attention is required and on what basis of urgency.