Hi - my follow up appointment on day 8 yesterday went well. Dr Samji said it was a bit of a difficult procedure because the calcification wasn’t continuous. He had to break apart multiple pieces and take them out. The incision is about 3 inches instead of the expected 1 inch as a result. He said everything turned out well, and my recovery is on target.
I’m able to do a lot more, and the pain has reduced dramatically today. I still have transient sharp pains, but nothing crazy. Generally, the muscles of my neck, tongue, and throat are sore still. I am a bit fatigued, so still taking it easy. Sleep is pretty difficult and I’m waking up several times a night. Around the wound and jawline is still pretty numb.
I am able to hold conversations and take care of administrative tasks. My neck and face are still a bit swollen, but I think the scar looks really good. It fortunately blends in well with my beard.
13 days post surgery - scar is healing well and swelling is starting to come down a bit. Generally, things are going well. I’m up and about and doing more regular activities.
About 3 days ago I started to have multiple daily bouts of extreme fatigue where suddenly I just felt exhausted and needed to lay down and go to sleep for an hour or two. These are odd because I’ll feel fine, then out of the blue I’m a zombie. I have found that if I sit and ice my neck, pretty quickly I perk up and the fatigue goes away.
My jaw and neck are numb, but starting to get some feeling on the skin. I am still having sporadic sharp nerve pain that lasts less than a second. Annoying, but not anything major. I am also much more sensitive to being too cold or too hot. Sleeping has been OK, although I am waking up at night more than usual.
Overall, the recovery continues to be on track with relatively mild issues. Challenge this week will be shaving
Good luck Swoo - I think Dr Samji is a great choice. Besides the quality of his work in surgery, he answered a whole bunch of questions I had in my pre-op appointment and it’s clear he knows this surgery extremely well.
I’m happy to answer any questions you have either in this thread or in DM.
Your incision continues to look fantastic, sfbear! You’re fortunate to heal so quickly. Glad you’re seeing improvement all the way around! The fatigue thing will go away with time. Seems to be a residual side effect from a major surgery for many people.
So appreciate your updates and pix. You are healing so nicely. I meet with Dr. Samji on Feb 4th and will schedule surgery then. My calcifications are not continuous either so those details appreciated although an extra 2 inch incision wont make much difference on my senior neck. Sounds like staying upright as much as possible (and ice) helps symptoms overall. Are you waking up at night due to pain? My daughter has an adjustable bed and maybe I can talk her out of exchanging beds for a few weeks.
