Hi All, I’m new here! I’m in the process of scheduling some consultations after my orofacial pain doctor suggested I may have Eagle Syndrome.
I was curious if anyone here needed pain management or other interventions immediately post op, and if so, did the hospital you had surgery at take care of you?
I’ve had two previous surgeries (both abdominal) and in both cases I woke up in severe pain and extremely swollen; one hospital sent me home even though I was in excruciating pain, sweating, and nauseas. My second surgery was at a different hospital that kept me in recovery until they got my pain down to a manageable level. I have an unspecified autoimmune disorder so I’m assuming this reaction is because of that. Because of this history, I’m terrified of having a similar experience if I go through with a styloidectomy. Any suggestions on which hospitals have solid post op care are greatly appreciated!
@Jess1 - I had my surgeries outpatient at a surgery center in San Jose, CA. They were really good about making sure I was stable, not nauseous, or in horrible pain prior to sending me home. They supplied ice packs immediately post op & left my IV in to administer pain & anti-nausea meds if needed as I was coming out of anesthesia.
My experience on this forum has been that many doctors are doing ES surgeries outpatient unless there are complications or if surgery was bilateral. Even those who have IJV decompressions are now going home on the day of surgery, unless there are complications. Typically opioid pain meds are prescribed along w/ anti-nausea meds & some doctors prescribe a tapering dose of steroids (my doctor did & they were a godsend!).
Making sure that the doctor, anesthesiologist & recovery staff know of your autoimmune condition & past history w/ post surgery pain & nausea will help a lot toward getting better care in recovery & even during surgery.
I’m sorry my answer is a bit vague, but hopefully others will share their post op experiences.
Thanks for sharing your experience! Was that at Stanford? I’m actually trying to get a consult with Dr. Damrose so if I go in that direction, it’s good to know the hospital there treats you well in recovery. I fully anticipate my surgery to also be outpatient, I just want to avoid being forced to leave when I’m clearly not stable.
Did the steroids help with swelling? Or what specifically did they help with?
My surgeries were at Silicon Valley Surgery Center. Dr. Samji did mine. Dr. Damrose was his mentor which I learned after I had my surgeries.
Steroids helped me immensely with post op swelling. I had a lot of swelling in my throat, & taking my steroid dose each morning reduced the feeling that my throat was swelling closed. Many doctor don’t Rx steroids, but I’ve learned to ask for them post op because they made a big difference for me after my ES surgeries.
Yes, it took a bit of time for the referral to process but my consult is scheduled for March! I’m also seeing Dr. Guo at UCSD in March just to get more than one opinion.
An open post is good so all our members can benefit from the information. I had actually forgotten about Dr. Guo as an option for our SoCal members, so thank you for bringing her name back to the forefront.
We’re not able to post & name doctors if it’s very critical feedback, so that’s best done by a private message, but if it’s positive or factual that the doctor doesn’t know about ES, on this open discussion is fine!
Have a good Christmas
