Former Night Ranger guitarist Jeff Watson is recovering from brain surgery.

The musician posted the health update Friday on Facebook, detailing his memories from the ordeal. “I’ve been in ICU for two weeks after having two holes drilled through my skull for access to my brain to put in a drain pipe to remove the blood gathering in my brain cavity two weeks ago so I wouldn’t die,” he wrote. “And I haven’t yet … so thanks to a very good and cool neurosurgeon y’all are stuck with me for a bit.”

Watson then had another procedure on Wednesday “to stop an artery from continuing to leak into my cranial cavity.” The guitarist wrote vividly about the operation, recalling how he was “taken into a surgery theater bristling with gear and gadgetry that would have [made] Capt. Kirk envious.” He was given oxygen and “just enough IV sedation” to “respond to oral commands.”

After the painful surgery, Watson was sent home to recover. “Need sleep and nutrition,” he wrote, “so more info to follow once my synapses start regrouping and my memory fully returns.” He added that his “guitar capabilities took a pretty big hit,” so he’s currently doing “metronome practice” and trying to get his “hands back into shape.”

Watson joined Night Ranger ahead of their 1982 debut LP, Dawn Patrol. While he left the band in the early ’90s to pursue a solo career, he rejoined the lineup in 1996 and remained until his exit in 2007.

“It’s kind of a sad one and it’s not something that I’d like to dwell on, really,” he told UCR in 2015, addressing his departure. “It was almost biblical, how it affected me anyway. But it was a drag. It was unexpected and I really don’t want to jump into the details. I think everybody just has to live with the outcome and that’s all in the rear-view mirror, as it were. I have nothing but the best wishes for everybody in whatever they pursue in their life, I really do.

“But that was a great time of my life when things were going well with the band in the ’80s,” he continued. “It was really a lot of fun. Even the reunion stuff was a good time for us and we had some great shows together. It was a bit of a shock to have the tables turned, but things happen.”

Over the years, Watson has also performed in the hard-rock supergroup Mother’s Army and played as a session or touring guitarist for Steve Morse, Chris Isaak, Dennis DeYoung and Michael Schenker Group, among others.