Hello, for those that had bilateral surgery, would you have it bilateral again?
I know only few doctors do both sides at the same time, but if one wants to get on with their life doing both sides at the same time seems an attractive proposition.
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Obviously I can’t comment personally (Mr Axon’s words were that ‘it would be too much’), but there do seem to be a few more doctors doing this surgery now… Hopefully others will reply with their experience.
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I don’t know of any UK surgeons doing bilateral ES surgeries but if you can travel to the US there are a few here who do it.
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Hi @markp - I have had bilateral intraoral and then bilateral external revision surgery. I would not recommend intraoral surgery at all. and definitly not bilateral if intraoral is your only choice. It was very hard to breathe, eat, or drink with all of the throat and tongue swelling and pain. I had no problems with bilateral external revision surgery. Dr. Hackman, who is at University of North Carolina (UNC) Health, did the revision through incisions directly in front of my ears. Pain was manageable, there was no mouth or throat swelling. I had some nerve damage but it was temporary.
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Thank you for coming back to share your experiences w/ ES surgeries, @Catmd. It sounds like you’re doing well now. 
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Hi @Isaiah_40_31 I am doing much better. Thank you for all that you do to help our fellow Eagles get through this crazy process of diagnosis and surgery. I still can’t get my now ex-ENT or neurologist to order the right imagining to sort out residual vocal cord and swallowing issues. Trying a new doctor next month.
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I had bilateral surgery with Dr. Hackman five weeks ago and would definitely recommend it. I was originally worried about doing both sides at once, but I’m glad I did. It was really nice to just have one surgery and be done with it. The overall recovery was far easier than I’d anticipated but ice is your best friend. Sleep elevated on a wedge pillow. Plan to eat soft food for a while afterward (Dr. Hackman says not to chew much for a couple weeks and he really means it). I’d recommend limiting talking too, since I noticed that would cause swelling to flare up. However, no swelling in my throat; it was mainly around my ears and under my chin. Dr. Hackman makes four incisions, one in front of each ear and then two on the neck. He’s very thorough! I didn’t have any facial nerve paralysis or other issues. I do have mild first bite syndrome on my right side, but I find if I hold water in my right cheek for a few seconds before eating or start chewing on my left side first, it’s okay.
Some symptoms went away right away but some will take more time (my glossopharyngeal nerve has been very angry, both before and after surgery, so it needs to heal).
Dr. Hackman and the entire UNC medical team are fantastic! Cannot recommend them enough.
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@Catmd - Your symptoms sound vagus nerve related. Maybe try to find someone who deals more specifically w/ nerve related problems. If you really want to check on your vagus nerve, you could request a FIESTA or CISS MRI of your neck to look at the path of your vagus to see if it’s being trapped by scar tissue, or if something is squashing it or it’s tangled up somewhere.
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What a great post op report @jotanger2! I’m so glad you’ve already had some symptoms go away & that you’ve found a way to reduce the impact of your first bite syndrome. I found staying extremely hydrated so my saliva was very dilute helped reduce my FBS pain. It took a while to figure that out though. I hope yours takes a permanent hike very soon! Please update us periodically to let us know how your healing is going. Good for you for being patient with your recovery. If your body heals like mine did, I’d have an ongoing nerve symptom that ever so gradually disappeared then one day I’d notice it was gone & hadn’t realized it sooner.
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Thank you! I have bee wondering if it might be scare tissue - had no idea where to look.
Susan Tobin
TASK Environmental, Inc.
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Glad that your recovery hasn’t been too painful, and I hope that your nerve pain settles down soon… 
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