These could also be your pterygoid hamulus processes which are in the area of the soft palate which you described.
Hmm, it could be those… Today I pressed with my tongue against one of them and the left side of my face got a bit numb (maybe it’s a nervous reaction, I don’t know). I got scared but fortunately it went back to normal after some time.
Regarding potential refuse to do operation it’s rather unfortunate news 
As I wrote elsewhere I was supposed to have a double jaw surgery but these potential ES is an obstacle. If the second surgerone doesn’t remove the styloids, the first one won’t perform a double jaw surgery – I waited two years for this and it required special orthodontic preparation, braces, extractions etc…