Hi redfaery,
I was on prescription pain pills for a month after my ES surgeries. Granted, I was spreading them out pretty far after about 2 weeks, but I needed them to help me sleep at night & occasionally during the day. I was very thankful to have them. I eventually cut them in half then into quarters to gradually reduce my dose.
Saw Dr who is overseeing things while Dr Bumpous is out. She told me that Iâm healing normally, but my allergies are most likely just going to make things more miserable and take a bit longer. She said Iâd probably have a few more peaks and valleys on my pain levels for at least 2 more weeks. So spoke to my boss at work after, I havenât been there long enough here for our FMLA benefit, but my job is definitely not in danger, I was told to take what time I needed, I just might have some time unpaid if i run out of my Paid Time Off. So going back home to do more resting, drinking of the cold stuff and eating of the soft foods.
Iâm glad that things are healing & no infection there, thatâs good. And hopefully knowing the doctor expects ups & down will be reassuring when you do have worse daysâŚAnd very pleased that you have a supportive boss & donât need to worry about rushing back to work! Gentle hugs & prayers!
So my main issue right now is pain, specifically of my ear on the side I had the surgery. Logically I know my ear wasnât touched, but I know how all that is connected. The pain pills arenât touching it, cold thing make it worse. Anyone have any tips for dealing with horrible ear pain?
Hi redfaery,
Have you tried heat? In the âolden daysâ (when I was a child) we used hot water bottles for earaches. Some of the gel packs available can be either heated or frozen. You might try getting a hot/cold gel pack & warming up it then laying your ear on it. So sorry thatâs the next step of healing for you. Iâm pretty confident that the ear pain will go as the post op swelling subsides.
That was a good call. I have a heated âsockâ thing I put in the microwave and that helped soothe it. So cold on my neck and heat on my ear.
Pain is a little better today, only one period where the pain was intense enough to make me cry. Dr. told me a few days ago when I saw them that normally they have people alternate NSAIDs with pain pills, but since NSAIDs cause asthma attacks in me, itâs just going to take longer for the inflammation to go down. I am trying to stay on soft foods and as close to the anti-inflammation diet my dentist gave me during my TMJ treatment, so hereâs hoping. Also started on Turmeric as that is supposed to help with inflammation as well.
Iâm glad using heat is helping your ear. It sounds like youâre doing all the right things to help your body heal. Just keep doing that. Healing is slow but bit by bit youâll notice your symptoms disappearing. I also take turmeric in capsule form as well as adding it to my warm morning drink.
I hope your swelling starts settling down in earnest so your pain will go away soon.
Hi redfairy,
I had the jaw pain that radiated to my ear. I had good and bad days and took the pain killers on and off for a month when I needed them. I know when my ear pain has been at its worst, the pain pills hardly touch it. I just laid in bed and put bags of ice on the side of my head and jaw area in front of ear. IF I could somehow sleep, I could get a break from the pain.
You probably have some nerve irritation and muscle tension. I was thankful doc gave me steroids after surgery (for 10 days) because I cant take NSAIDS either. Muscle relaxers may be helpful? Rotating between heat and cold. Good luck on the inflammation. I feel for you. Hang in there. It will get better.
Got new test result on my MyChart from Dr.
CLINICAL HISTORY:
CLINICAL HISTORY AND SPECIAL REQUESTS: TRANSORAL RESECTION OF RIGHT STYLOID
SPECIMEN SOURCE:
RIGHT STYLOID
GROSS DESCRIPTION:
Received in formalin designated âright styloidâ. The specimen consists of
three fragments of pink-tan to tan-yellow bone ranging from 0.6 up to 1.5 cm in
greatest dimension which are submitted in toto in cassette A1 and will be ready
following decalcification.
Sounds like your doctor removed your styloid in pieces. I think thatâs fairly common, or was it already in pieces in your neck? Whatever the case, Iâm glad itâs gone & youâre healing well, redfaery!
I see the Dr himself on the 18th this month, so hopefully he can answer more questions on how the styloid was then.
I am now on Day 17. Throat is still very painful, but the pain is much better in that I am only taking Tylenol and Turmeric for the pain and itâs mostly keeping it to bearable.
I ran out of paid time off (PTO) middle of last week and Iâm less than a year employed so no FMLA, so that sucks. However. My company has a neat little program where they reimburse you half of your deductible per year you spend, so I just applied for that which will make up so far the time missed unpaid. Really need Single Payer Healthcare in this country.
Anyway, my boss is being awesome and is letting me choose how much and when to work. So I did 2 hours from home yesterday and 2.5 hours today, so got a little work done, but boy am I exhausted after that little bit. Going to rest the weekend and then Monday try a half day and see how I do. My boss keeps telling me they can use me whenever but donât want me back full time until I am ready for it.
Other than the pain in my throat, and radiating still up to my ear, no major problems. No first bite syndrome, or nerve issues elsewhere. Still not able to eat a lot of things due to throat, but did manage a hamburger yesterday (small one with no toppings), so thatâs progressing. And small bonus, my diet last 2 + weeks has caused me to lose another 8 lbs.
redfaery,
What great news about your employerâs flexibility & generous offer to let you return when youâre really ready! Good for you for âtesting the watersâ & starting back to work slowly.
I expect youâll notice much less throat pain by the time you reach 30 days post op. Good to know you didnât get First Bite Syndrome. I think thatâs more common w/ external surgeries but for what reason, Iâm not sure. Your ear pain should also be much less in another couple of weeks as your post op inflammation continues to decline. Expect & look forward to that.
Almost a month out from intra oral surgery. Just saw my surgeon Dr. Bumpous for a followup this morning. He told me that he had to take my Right Styloid Process out in 3 pieces because it was about 3cm long! Almost to the hyoid bone. Otherwise he said I may have been feeling better a little earlier than I did.
Back to work full time this week, made it half days last week. Still a bit of sore throat, and my voice isnât 100% but well enough to do my job on the computer Helpdesk. No other symptoms other than the those, so other than a really sucky 3 weeks, the surgery went rather well.
Dr wants to see me back in 4 months, if my symptoms are gone we wonât do the left side, if Iâm still having symptoms then we will, but at 4 months he said any issues Iâm having will be more due to the left side than post-surgery right.
Glad to hear you are doing well. You may have some days where you relapse a bit, donât fret, itâs all part of the healing process. Your voice will eventually return to normal, mine took a couple of months for sure; I agree with your surgeon, if you are symptom free by the 5-6 month mark you may not need the second side. Wishing you a continued and full recovery. 
So pleased that you feel surgeryâs gone well. & good that you know why you felt rough. Good to get that styloid out! Glad that you can get back to work nowâŚI hope that you donât need the second side doing!
Hi redfaery!
So glad youâre feeling significantly better. Thatâs the outcome we hope for everyone!
Bet it feels good to be back to work & feeling better. As the others said, Iâm hoping for your full recovery & no need for a second surgery!
Your a trooper redfairy!
Im so glad that your employer is supportive of your healing time. Regardless of FMLA, it sounds like they want to keep you and will accommodate your needs.
I like that bonus of the weight lossâŚalways a silver lining. Good luck on your continued healing.
Ok, I didnât think this was due to the surgery before but now Iâm starting to wonder. My sense of taste has been off since the surgery. At first I thought it was oral Thrush since I definitely had that after antibiotics that first week, but thatâs been treated and I still feel like my sense of taste has been off for a bit. Is that possible?
Since the intraoral has some in common with tonsillectomy I looked up taste disturbance with that surgery and apparently itâs a rare side effect for adults.
I canât recall anyone with that before; I hope that this is temporary & you get your sense of taste back soon!
Howâs your sense of smell, redfaery? If your sense of smell is reduced that can affect your sense of taste.
I lost some of my âsmell abilityâ from my head injury in 2015. It did reduce how acutely I taste things. Have worked a little bit to restimulate my olfactory nerve but havenât been diligent.