I’m UK, so had a surgeon there, not much help to you, I’m afraid!
Bone spurs seem to be quite common with ES; metabolic disorders as well as tonsillectomy & neck trauma are known causes, I guess how the body lays down calcium counts as a metabolic disorder…
I was pretty healthy when I had surgery, although I had symptoms of an autoimmune disorder (undiagnosed Sjogrens syndrome), the symptoms started about the same time as the ES ones got worse, my feeling is that the inflammation in my neck maybe sparked off an autoimmune reaction, just my thinking though, never seen research on that! I was mid 40s when I had surgery, I did heal pretty quickly & compared to how ill I’d felt the surgery seemed easy, but of course I’d not got the complications you have…
If you’re concerned about the risks of a stroke from ES (which is very, very rare), you could have a CT with contrast, which shows if there is any compression of blood vessels. The symptoms of vascular ES are dizziness, fainting, feeling off balance, pain in the carotid artery area & up to the eye, head pressure, ear pressure, tiredness, brain fog…there’s more detail in the Newbies Guide Section:
ES Information: Background, Anatomy, Styloid Length, Angulation, Classic and Vascular , &
ES Information: A Scary Subject
Hope this helps!