Well gang, I thought I was doing great managing the pain all day Thursday and Friday with Tylenol and ice. This morning I woke up with worse version of the headache I have been managing and probably waited too long to finally take the Oxcy. Now I’m trying to play catch up to get ahead of the pain. I guess making a poop will just have to wait a little longer. I have a very high tolerance for pain but what I learned is that in a situation like this I don’t need to put myself through that. It can’t be good for the healing process if I’m crying because the pain is so bad. The swelling has gone down quite a bit but there is so much muscle tension from my left trap up my neck to the base of my skull. Dr. Nakaji did tell me to be prepared for that given the amount of retraction he had to use to give himself room to work. Now I’m hoping the pain improves before I run out of medicine since they sent me home with only 3 days worth. Fingers crossed.
Otherwise the recovery is going well. A limited amount of numbness along the jawline and neck in front of the incision. No other pain or weird nerve things. Just a sub occipital headache that brings me to tears. I slept well last night with my head raised about 30 degrees with an ice pack. I don’t have an appetite yet. One day at a time I guess.
I’m sorry for your pain today @Chrickychricky! I took the Percocet from the beginning but started cutting the frequency back on day 3. Days 4-6 were my catch up to the pain days. No fun!! I hope it’s quicker for you!
I used CALM (mag citrate powder) to help my digestive tract keep moving during the weeks I took Percocet. It worked great.
One concentrated area of pain is rough but it’s great to hear that you don’t have other serious post op symptoms, too. I’ll be praying for your quick recovery from the head pain.
So sorry that the pain has ramped up for you Days 3-5 seem to be the worst for swelling, but for some people I think have shared that days 5-7 were worse, so you’re possibly in that spell, obvs there’s internal swelling after surgery affecting nerves and blood vessels so it could be that , as well as muscle tension. I hope that you have enough pain meds to last as long as needed …
Thinking of you, take care & God bless
I actually took the Rx pain meds for 6 weeks post op (so much for high pain threshold!!). Caveat - after the first week, I cut them back to morning & bedtime then just bedtime then I started cutting the pills in half & only taking half on a more “painful day”. So I didn’t take them “on schedule” for 6 weeks but took them as needed. My surgeon did give me one refill. I think I started w/ about 20 pills & the refill was 10. I think most people stop them after the first week, but they helped me a lot more than the OTC meds, & I wasn’t afraid of becoming addicted w/ that low of a dose over that short of a time. I think how our bodies handle narcotic pain meds is very individual so what was right for me may not be right for others. I did not take them beyond week 2 after my second surgery.
I also was Rxed prednisone which helped tremendously to reduce swelling. If you’re still in killer pain tomorrow, you can request a refill though there are doctors who won’t or possibly can’t prescribe narcotics across state lines. I just found this online & hope it will be helpful:
Wow, that’s great knowledge @Isaiah_40_31 . I’m going to call them this morning and see if they will order more meds. The other thing I’m noticing is that my voice is weak and froggy sounding. My throat isn’t sore at all so I don’t think it’s from the intubation. Any thoughts?
It could be from the intubation, or possibly irritation of the glossopharyngeal nerve during surgery, as this has a motor function which helps with speech…hopefully this will settle soon
As @Jules said, it’s most likely a result of a nerve or nerves (could be vagus, too) irritated by surgery & should gradually recover as you heal. I think most of us who’ve had surgery had some odd post op symptom(s) crop up which ultimately resolved.
CVS in CA wouldn’t fill the prescription for oxcycodone from Arizona, despite that statute, @Isaiah_40_31. I have asked Dr. Nakaji’s office to ask my PCP to place the order and just waiting to see how that shakes out. I didn’t even tell you guys yet that at the last minute before surgery my health insurance decided they were not going to cover out of state surgery and I’m having to pay the whole thing out of pocket. Ugh.
I can’t believe CVS wouldn’t follow a state statute. SUPER FRUSTRATING!! I hope Dr. N’s ofc gets the Rx to your PCP ASAP so you can get that refill today. Keep icing as that can be really helpful in keep pain lower.
I saw your note about insurance earlier but didn’t understand that they weren’t willing to pay at all. I thought maybe it was just a procedure code glitch. That’s really horrible of them!
Did your insurance approve the surgery prior to surgery & bail on you surgery day or shortly before? If so, I’m not sure they can legally do that. I would ask Dr. Nakaji’s billing ofc to go to bat for you & appeal the denial. That’s something they should do for you. I hope in the end your insurance will pay their share of your bill.
Dr. Nakaji’s Surgical coordinator contacted Blue Shield of CA and was told I did not need prior authorization. I didn’t think that sounded right so she agreed to call back and I called as well. We both told them the surgery was in Phoenix and we both got the same answer, no prior auth needed, just call a certain number once admitted to the hospital. The day before the surgery the hospital itself must have contacted Blue shield and was told that they do not pay for out of state care unless it’s an emergency. I called the insurance again and explained that there are no providers in CA who have expertise in performing this particular surgery (styloid and C1) and they emailed me a form called Access to Care. That got filled out right away by Dr. Nakaji’s office but it needed to be reviewed by a Blue Shield doctor which was minimally going to take 72 hours and my surgery was scheduled for the next day. I don’t know if they have yet made a decision on it. I just couldn’t put the surgery off especially when there was a major chance they would deny it anyway. So I went ahead with hopes of appealing the decision after the fact and/or working with the doctor and hospital to negotiate the cost to the insurance adjusted rate. Now I’m just waiting for the bills to start coming in so I can start the process.
Oh my goodness. That is awful! I hope this gets resolved soon, and that they cover it as they originally said they would! You certainly took all the right steps. Insurance companies can be so frustrating to work with.
Thank you for the explanation, @Chrickychricky. I can’t imagine what a surprise that must have been right before your surgery especially after you & Dr. N’s ofc had both been told no need for pre-authorization. Seems like the right hand doesn’t know what the left is doing. If you & Dr. N’s bus ofc got the name(s) of the people you spoke to who gave you that information, that might help your case as well.
The info @Jules gave you from @lilwider could also be very helpful. She had quite a struggle w/ her insurance as Jules noted.
I’m also continuing to pray for your recovery. I hope you were able to get your Rx refilled yesterday & aren’t in too much pain today.
That’s so nice you guys. Thanks. I did get the pain medication yesterday afternoon thanks to my PCP. I needed it through last night but so far today only using Tylenol and ice. I have a little red hot spot on the base of my neck, not really close to the incision site. I’m keeping an eye on that.
Hold out hope since you were misinformed. My husband, who was retired, passed away in November 2022. Within days, I called to notify his retirement plan. His plan included them paying the cost of dental insurance. I specifically asked what I needed to do about that, since they would still continue to pay for me. I was told I didn’t need to do anything, the insurance would automatically be transferred to my name. Well, I waited and waited for a new card. None came. After about 1 1/2 months, I called back. Apparently I was misinformed. I needed to call a different person and notify them, but I had to do it within 30 days of his passing. That deadline had come and gone. I explained to them about what I was told. They worked behind the scenes and made it possible for me to get the free dental insurance that I was entitled to.
