Hi all I’ve been meaning to catch up on here but between the kids being home from school and not having that great of health, I have been keeping busy.
I had two small bowel obstructions following my left styloidectomy with Dr. Hackman. The symptoms had started before my surgery so I don’t think they are in any way related. I’ve always had bad gastric issues.
During each obstruction, I had an NG tube which I feel impacted my healing as it was about three weeks post-surgery. That time it was inserted I lost the ability to speak rather quickly and it was excruciating and the space above my neck incision swelled very badly.
Then again about three weeks after that. I had another obstruction and another NG tube. This one seemed done better and didn’t hurt as badly. I didn’t loose my voice until the fourth day and I didn’t have any swelling.
My ear pain and throat pain that I was experiencing prior to surgery seemed to have improved but it was hard to tell with all the NG tubing. I wasn’t in daily pain like I was pre-surgery. But now the pain in my left ear is back to being severe and constant. I don’t understand why the pain in my ear and the side of my tongue is back so badly.
The right side is still in and very large and seems to have its own set of problems. But I’m still hoping to feel better on the left. I reached out to Dr. Hackman to move my appointment up. I will be following up with him on September 10th at the latest.
Has this kind of swing back of symptoms occurred for anyone? Can the right styloid cause symptoms on the left? Is it just nerve damage and it will never be better?
Anyhoo hi again I’m hoping to get to check in here a little more now that the kids are back in school
@ectocake - It’s good to hear from you, but I’m sorry for the reason you’ve needed to come back prior to your next surgery. Many of us on the forum are parents so we can all relate to the busy-ness of life when our kids are home. Mine are adults now & out of the house for the most part & though it’s a relief in many ways, I do miss having family time w/ the whole family present.
My situation was the opposite of yours in that I had my right side done first. My left side caused waaaay more pain than the right, but the right was thicker & growing more straight down so my surgeon chose to remove it first. I absolutely had cross over pain from the remaining left styloid to the right side after the right was gone. I am convinced of this because the right side pain went away after my left styloid was removed. Though it’s not a 100% guarantee, there is a chance the right styloid is contributing to the pain you have. It also may be that the nerves irritated by ES were, as you noted, re-irritated by the NG tubes going in & out, so they may be flared up & causing pain off & on for awhile. Nerve pain (burning, tingling, itching, electric shock sensations, pressure, aching, sharp pain) is a known symptom of nerve healing which seems counterintuitive, but it can be a positive sign that healing is happening. It comes & goes but over a period of months should gradually start disappearing.
I’m glad you have a follow-up w/ Dr. Hepworth pretty soon. I hope that if something is wrong, he’s able to pinpoint it & help fix it ASAP.
Thank you, I know healing isn’t linear and I hope I’m just in a rough patch. It’s been a few weeks straight of just a gradual increase to constant pain the past week.
I’m so sorry that you’ve been through the bowel obstructions twice as well as your styloid removal surgery, that is really rough…as @Isaiah_40_31 says, cross over symptoms can happen, and also as you say it could well be that the tube has really aggravated and inflamed the nerves. If it had improved for a while post-surgery then I would hope that it is a temporary thing and that the pain will diminish too- I guess with your children being at home you’ve been rushed off your feet looking after them too, so probably haven’t been able to rest and take care of yourself! Nerves can take up to a year to heal properly so there’s time for them to improve still, frustrating though it is…
I hope that your appointment goes well with Dr Hackman, & see what his opinion is about the side you’ve had removed. Praying that it improves for you & sending you a hug
I’ve been meaning to catch up on here but between the kids being home from school and not having that great of health, I have been keeping busy.
