@Deb7 I didn’t mean to scare you with the photos, lol. I’ve been keeping them for my own sanity, and because I send them to the doctor occasionally. I don’t want to make the drive in to OHSU every time I have a question. We took a photo day 1 and I think continuing to open my mouth a little each day is helping the flexibility. I totally understand not wanting to open your mouth. In high school when I had my wisdom teeth surgically removed, I sucked whipped Jello through my teeth for weeks because I was too scared to open my jaw. That wasn’t the best thing because it left my jaw muscles really tight. I’ve been gently massaging the jaw near my cheeks and opening a little every day.
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@Deb7 & @Bvred - Intraoral surgery is more difficult to recover from for some people in the first several weeks after surgery than external surgery through the neck though some symptoms like a stiff jaw & sore throat are common for both. It may take 2-4 weeks for you both to gradually begin feeling a significant positive change.
I am glad you’ve met each other now & can help support each other during your healing processes. If you want to “chat” privately, one of you can start a private message to the other by clicking on her screen name as it appears above one of her posts.
I’ll also be praying for each of you to begin seeing “the light at the end of the tunnel” for this early part of your surgical recoveries so you feel encouraged rather than discouraged. 
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@Isaiah_40_31 Thank you again for always encouraging everyone. When you are in pain and feeling out of sorts, you need someone to be in your corner. You and Jules are especially good at that. So happy we have this site to come to as it does make recovery easier to deal with. Hugs! 
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@Bvred thank you for that tip of massage and continuing to use the jaw. Appreciate it.
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Oh, thank you @Jules I appreciate it. Hugs to you.
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Amazing photographs - and thanks for sharing them! Your mouth looks sore, but hopefully will be less so with each passing day ( having had lots or mouth surgeries in the past ). I agree with the recommendation for blended foods… vanilla Ensure or Boost, premium ice cream and soups can be very beneficial, but be careful with things that contain seeds or tiny bits that can lodge in the wound. Rinse gently with salt water, and consider a multivitamin tablet. The ibuprofen should be taken with food to minimize upset.
And remember that darned styloid is out, at last!
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It’s now Day 9 and I’ve been feeling a lot better in the throat. Quite a few of the stitches are gone now but the area hasn’t bled again. I’m able to talk and swallow pretty well. I have noticed a weird taste in my mouth though, and things seem puffier than before. I noticed it yesterday while drinking water. It just tasted awful. I am brushing 3 times a day and doing salt water gargles like 6 times. I assume without a fever that it’s nothing to worry about? It’s so hard not to worry with a massive wound in the back of your throat 
I guess it’s best to keep an eye on it for now, if it gets sorer, redder or more swollen then you might have an infection. Hopefully you’re doing enough to keep that at bay…
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You take the BEST pictures of your throat, @Bvred! It does look irritated but I agree with what @Jules said. Keep up w/ your current salt water rinsing protocol for sure. It doesn’t look infected to me so the current swelling may just be another step along the road to recovery.
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12 Days Post-Op update. Honestly, that final stitch gave out on day 8 and that was the best thing that happened in a while. It felt better immediately and I was no longer gagging on stitches. The healing has ramped up immensely, and things are feeling great. It’s a pretty big hole, but it doesn’t hurt much at all. I’ve been eating mostly anything, just small bites and chewing carefully. I never took the opioid medications, the pain levels just didn’t warrant that for me. Ibuprofen worked great. The discomfort of not being able to swallow, stitches everywhere and just the bad tastes etc were worse for me than the actual pain. Also, the anxiety of having a massive hole in your throat is real.
I was brushing 3-4 times a day and doing salt water gargles (super gently) 4-5 times a day. Not only did that help the healing but it does lower the pain. I would get up once at night to do them during the first week or so. If my mouth tasted gross, I cleaned it.
The only issues I’m still facing are a little tongue numbness and this NEW heat issue. I’ve noticed when I get hot (step outside, take a shower) my lower face and neck gets prickly and pins and needles. I’ve never had this before. I assume that even though things don’t feel inflamed, they may still be. Hopefully this settles down. I’d genuinely hate to come away from with with problems I didn’t have before. My prior symptoms were basically just occasional throat pain when sick, coughing or straining my throat. Fingers crossed.
But I’m feeling amazing considering I’m only 12 days out.
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I’m so happy to read your update, @Bvred, & knew you’d be “singing a different tune” once you started feeling better!
It’s not uncommon for new nerve symptoms to crop up during recovery. It’s a good sign that nerves which were irritated by your styloid are now happily recovering. It’s unfortunate that recovering nerves can also make us miserable or be annoying, but it does happen. I suspect that w/in a few weeks to a month or two the pins & needles in your lower face & neck will stop.
It takes 4-6 weeks, & sometimes longer, for post op inflammation to go away so it’s not unusual for new symptoms to crop up during that time.
I’m really happy for the progress your body is making toward full recovery! 
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Good that you’re feeling better & all those annoying stitches are out! It does sound like your nerves are inflamed as @Isaiah_40_31 says, hopefully that’ll resolve soon too
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I’m a little late to the conversation but I saw @Jules mentioned me. Your stitches looked a lot like mine did early on. I couldn’t handle the choking sensation without the RX painkillers the first few days. They didn’t help so much with pain as just numbing my gag reflex enough that I could smile and be happy.
As far as hot food feeling weird, yeah I think that would be normal nerve healing and will probably go away with time. I’ve noticed a little sensitivity at the dentist when they use an ultrasonic tool on the upper molar on that side it feels and sounds more intense than the rest of my mouth, I assume it has to do with the nerves still settling out because it is right next to the surgery site.
Seems like you’ve been making a lot of progress, is it almost pain free now? I know that once that last surface stitch fell out and stopped gagging me it was a relief. I stuck to eating very soft food like refried beans and miso soup early on. Lots of ice cream. I struggled to eat something as soft as lasagna because it required so much mechanical chewing.
I just passed my 1 year anniversary from my operation with Schindler. I feel a lot better. I still have some uncomfortable post nasal drip that gives me a similar sensation occasionally, but I’m not in pain from trying to clear my throat of it any more. The incision sight is almost invisible, but I can feel the area the styloid used to push on my throat.
It should all be easy from here on as you keep noticing improvements as the internal healing progresses and the deeper stitches dissolve. Soon it will be nothing more than a gritty texture where the stitches were or a raised line where the incision was.
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Thank you for the info & update! I’m glad that you’ve seen some improvements
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