Have you seen anyone consult vascular for the IJV version? Just in case there is structural damage?
Dr Hepworth has a vascular team who he consults with & gets testing through, so they would look at any issues with it.
Yes, I did find flying affected my head- I didn’t fly until a couple of years after surgery, but I did get symptoms back a bit, so I’d imagine you’d feel a bit rougher if you have to fly like this. Some other members have flown I’m sure, maybe they’ll have some input.
Yeah I may just end up driving, I dont want to hurt myself the last few days before I gt them taken out. Which for me could mean a 20 hour car ride. 
Do Y’all know anything about Dr Nuss only taking referral patients? And if anyone has seen Dr Celest out of New Orleans before?
Calebp,
Welcome!
I live in Cape Coral and have been looking for a Dr who could rule out ES. My ENT has never heard of it. I went up to Lakeland to see Dr.Ram Lakhani. Of whom I am impressed with so far.I go back Sept12th to get a CT scan.
I wish I had known about Dr. Hauser. Good luck and I will look fro future updates.
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Dr Hauser is amazing and right across the water from you. But does Dr.Ram Lakhani do styloid removal? And how long did it take you to get an appointment?
Calebp
I have heard no mention of Dr. Nuss or Dr. Bunnell requiring a referral, however, I feel confident that Dr. Hauser would refer you if you do need it. Also, I’ll answer on this thread about Dr. Celestre. @Tim was our first member to mention her, & he hasn’t posted to let us know how his appointment went. If you type Dr. Celestre into the search box (magnifying glass icon), Tim’s posts will come up.
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Gotcha, she has openings throughout this month and is in Nee Orleans which is just 2 hours away. So I may try and schedule an appointment or call up there and see if they can give me info on if she does styloidectomies. I’m so close to solving a issue that has taken so much from me these past few months. I probably need to just relax and just be steady and persistent with everything. But it’s just exciting/scary but, reading and talking to y’all have made this so much better. And I’m thankful for y’all. 
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I believe Dr. Lakhani refers you to a surgeon. However , I’m not positive. I have only seen him once.
I think I may have inquired about Dr. Hauser last year. They wanted to charge me up front before I saw him. They said my insurance may not cover his procedures. It made me a bit Leary about seeing him. I think he does prolotherapy, which I did try through my dentist.
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Yeah everything is up front cost, but he is a out of the box thinker and I don’t think I would have found what is going on without him. It would have taken years.
You will love Dr. Hackman. He is by far the best Doctor/specialist I’ve ever seen. He has so many degrees and awards. He is trained in vascular, cleft pallet. He is one of the few that is also trained and very experienced with the Davinci Robot. Which in intra oral with 10x the vision and less risky. He is so good at ES that this is been most of his business this year. I know even Duke sends their patients to him. I had bi-laterial styloid and styloid process removal as well as my right thyroid removed by him in 2019. My carotid artery was being compressed. I do know that in the last year he tends to do more external. I asked him why and he said that more complained of pain with the intra oral as they do have to cut five holes in your mouth. Honestly I found it to be much easier and did better than most. I really thought I had brain cancer or something with all the stabbing, electrical headaches. I have had migraines all my life and shortly after I had surgery my neurologist ordered a CT scan and I asked him to show me where the styloids would have been. He was like wow I’ve never seen a better surgery. Everything was removed to the hyoid and smooth. I’m a different case so have had several surgeries with him. Specialist thought I had vasculitis so he took part of my Carotid artery out to check for that. The bilaterial with the Davinci Robot. Then this year I had temporal pain. He did a CT scan and fragments of the styloid broke off and were floating and wrapped in nerves on each side( he told me before surgery all the risk. Fragments breaking off and they have no control of that could happen. I am one of the only one I know of this happened too. He went in to do both sides in February and he started on the right and the fragment on the right was so wrapped in nerves he didn’t feel he should do both at the same time as much as he had to untangle. So he went back in May and did the other side. You can not see my scars from the thyroid, or fragment removal. I see a tiny one where he cut the carotid artery up in my hairline. To give you an idea of how good he is, the top doctor’s award which is pretty much one of the highest(other doctors vote of whom they would want to do their surgery). He won this many years. Again I can not say enough. You will feel so much better once the vessels aren’t being compressed. Best of luck to you!!!
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Thank you for the info, I am calling Doctor Hackmans office back today. I’m so excited to try and get some kind of relief, I feel drunk all the time and a whole host of other symptoms. I just want to be able to work again. How long did it take from you seeing him and having the surgery?
I have an update my ENT has sent a referral to Dr Kirk Withrow at UAB in Birmingham. He is an ENT that does head and neck surgery. I have to call and schedule my appointment. But I seen where a few people on here have mentioned him.
I want to say like a month. But that was a long time ago and I know people are coming from all over to see him. I think that is why he is also operating more with externally than the robot. The Davinci robot surgery was 9 1/2 hours but that also included the thyroid removal which was external that probably was very short. Call his scheduler. I think Patricia moved but the number is 919-966-7491. You will feel so much better after stopping the compression. I understand the drunk ( I called them wild headaches). I really thought I had brain cancer or something. Read up on the Davinci robot and discuss with him what option is best for you. Best of luck and I hope you get relief soon.
I had my styloid removed by Dr. Bunnell with great success about a month ago. I didn’t need a referral. Also I spent one night at UF Health hospital (previously Shands) after the surgery. I had a private room and received amazing care from the nurses on the head and neck floor. Good luck to you and I hope you feel better and get relief soon!
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That’s awesome to hear. I’m glad you got it removed. How did you go about making your appointment without a referral?
I just called the office, had my images sent over and made an appointment at the UF Jax North location near the airport. Does your insurance require a referral maybe? If so, whoever ordered your images should be able to refer you or maybe even your primary care physician. Dr. Bunnell will spend a lot of time with you during your appointment and will answer all your questions. I was told by the anesthesia nurse at the hospital during my pre op call that I picked an excellent doctor. Dr. Bunnell is not in my network but the hospital is.
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Oh ok you called the north location. I called the other location. I will call the north facility tomorrow and try to get in. Jacksonville is only 4 hours for me. So that will be amazing. Thank you so much for the info! 
I just wanna get this devils toothpick out of my neck and get back to work.
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Good luck! They are a VERY busy team but the doctor is amazing so don’t give up. I was told Dr. Bunnell sometimes does surgery five days a week!
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That’s a lot of time in the OR, thank you i will keep y’all up to date on everything. I hope you have a great night
Hi Calebp,
Just a thought from my end. You’re contacting a lot of offices, & you’ll potentially get different info about surgical strategies & recovery times from each one. We have a list of questions to ask a doctor whom you’re considering for surgery. Using that may help you sort out which doctor(s) seem to be the best fit for you. You’ll also make your decision based on personality fit - i.e. how well you feel you get along w/ a doctor. Seeing someone who is a competent ES surgeon is certainly important but being able to also feel good about your relationship w/ the doctor you choose is the icing on the cake. I’m sure you experience this scenario with the docs you work with. Some are welcoming teachers & others keep you at arms length.
Here’s one thread about the questions to ask, but there are many others:
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