Hi Rachel1220,
How exciting that you have surgery coming up so soon & even more so that you’ve found a doctor not on our list who is willing to do it AND externally! All the details you’ve mentioned about how she will do the surgery are what many of us have experienced w/ our external surgeries so it sounds like you’re in very good hands. I will caution you though that one week for recovery is a bit on the conservative side. Many of us have found that it was at least two weeks before we could entertain the thought of going back to work or other activities & in some cases even longer. It took two months for me to get my energy back fully & feel “normal” again.
Keeping ice packs at the ready & using them 15-20 min on & at least 45 min. off will help you a lot after surgery. Sticking w/ your prescribed pain med schedule, even during the night, is important in the first week. Days 3-5 post op are when the swelling will be the worst & also the pain. Plan to take it especially easy those days & ice, ice, ice. Also, sleeping/resting w/ your head elevated to 30º (almost sitting up) will help reduce swelling in your neck & throat. My doctor Rxed a pain med & a course of prednisone to help w/ post op swelling. The prednisone made a huge difference for me, but many doctors don’t offer it. Finally, Rx pain meds will clog your system so be prepared w/ a stool softener & laxative & start taking them daily after surgery to prevent another uncomfy problem.
Another thing to consider is if you have bilateral ES & only one side is being removed, some symptoms may remain which are caused by the remaining styloid. Don’t make the mistake of thinking your surgery was unsuccessful because of this. The symptoms caused by my remaining styloid ramped up after my first one was removed, & it wasn’t till after my second surgery that I really got my life back.
Most doctors do an amazing job of making external incisions that are nearly invisible once healed. It does take several months for complete healing to occur. There are also many images of incisions in various healing stages which our members have posted. These will likely show up in the post op discussions which you can find using the magnifying glass icon above.
Here is a link for some suggested items to purchase for post op care. You may have a sore throat & a stiff jaw for a bit after surgery so plan on a soft diet to start:
Overall, you have a good post op plan in place. I’m so glad you have family supporting & taking care of you. We’d love another doctor’s name to add to our list so will look forward to your post op update. I’m putting your surgery date on my calendar & will be praying for a wonderful outcome. 