Going to give Dr Bumpous another chance, since his initial exam was very detailed. He sent me to get 2 MRI’s, one of head and one of neck yesterday. Then they called from hospital and said they needed to look at another area closer so I have to go back on Friday this week and get a 3rd MRI. Little bit worried, never had one of those tests and been asked to go back for more scans.
Good that they’re being thorough; let us know how you get on…
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Saw Dr. Bumpous again today. MRI’s didn’t show any impingement on any of the nerves. He still insisted I didn’t have long SPs. So I brought out the scan picture I posted here. His tune changed immediately. He was going to get ahold of the scan from the dentist office again and look at it. He said just from the one screenshot I had it was obvious my styloid processes were very long. He is going to get the scan and will call me personally after he studies them to see what to do next. He said depending on where they are relative to the carotid, he will decide whether or not to do intra orally or external surgery. He said his preference is intra orally. He said if that ends up being the best option it will be outpatient surgery, with 2-4 week recovery time, but he thinks I’ll be feeling much better within a week. External he said would be an overnight at least hospital stay. And he only does one side at a time.
He told me he just did another Eagle Syndrome surgery a couple of days ago, he’s done a few this year he said so far.
Feeling much more hopeful!
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AWESOME JOB advocating for yourself, redfaery! What a great post! VICTORY!!
I’m so glad Dr. Bumpous changed his tune & didn’t get upset that you disputed his diagnosis.
I will say I disagree somewhat w/ his post op assessment as we’ve seen that external surgeries often have quicker recoveries & usually have a lower post op infection rate. We also see more bilateral intraoral surgeries done all in one surgery than external which usually done via two surgeries.
I’ve given you links to posts about intraoral & external surgeries below:
https://forum.livingwitheagle.org/search?q=intraoral%20surgery%20post%20op%20recovery
https://forum.livingwitheagle.org/search?q=external%20surgery%20post%20op%20recovery
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On the other issue I was having, with my jaw/TMJ issues. I’m on week 11 of 12 of the treatment plan for that. Wearing upper and lower dental appliances specially made, getting weekly cold laser treatments on the jaw, neck and sometimes shoulders, and modifying my diet to be more anti-inflammation friendly. My jaw pain that was radiating up to my head has gone (on a scale of 1-10, 10 being horrific) to a 2 on the right side and settling in at a 3 on the left. Left was staying at about an 8 on both sides for a long time. Because of that my pain above my ear has gone down and my massage therapist I see once a month said she’s never seen my shoulders so relaxed the entire time she’s been treating me. So that’s is a great victory. Also very grateful for this dentist for advocating for me and printing out a screenshot of the styloid process to see very clearly and asking me weekly for updates on the Eagle Syndrome thing. I really am feeling like getting the Eagle’s treated now may have a good chance of bringing me down the rest of the way.
I’ve had this headache for so long now, it’s been amazing what even a few point drop of pain does for a person. Not headache free, but with jaw pain almost gone, I have noticed a huge burst of energy and I have been much more positive mentally as well. So now hopefully Dr. Bumpous gets things even further along the way.
Honestly he said if he does surgery it will depend on where my SP is vs the carotid, and which will be safer and easier with disrupting that the least. If I have a say in it I’m going to ask for the external. I had external surgery on my left side a few years ago to remove a Parotid salivary gland tumor and I had surgery to fix some cervical vertibre in my neck about 3 years ago, so I already have scars on my neck one more is not going to bug me.
Thanks for the links Isaiah!
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It’s so good to know you’re making progress w/ your facial pain & headaches as well. TMJ is a nasty critter, too. It does affect some of the same nerves that ES bothers.
How fantastic that your dentist is also rooting for you! It’s always good to have someone in the medical profession behind you!
I expect/hope for great results from your ES surgery. Good plan in talking to Dr. Bumpous about external surgery. If he has a strong preference for intraoral, it might be best to go that route if he’s more experienced in that arena. It would be worth it to ask him if he can remove the same amount of the styloid w/ either surgical approach.
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Well done you for pushing for yourself! So pleased that has changed his mind, & great that your dentist has been so helpful. Pleased that the tmjd treatment & others are helping too! Hugs to you!
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Hey red, so glad you stood your ground. I dont know much about this Dr. Bumpous, but the fact he missed this and insisted you didn’t have long styloid, is a red flag to me. Are you sure you would have the confidence in him performing surgery?
I’m so glad you are having success with the jaw/ear pain. That pain is the worst! Its amazing how once you knock the pain down, the shoulders start to relax. Such a relief to not have such horrific pain all the time. No doubt improves the overall mood. Ive just started searching for a provider who has the laser therapy you speak of.
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Confidence in Dr. Bumpous? Yep even though he missed it, once he saw it on the scan he put aside his ego and agreed to study it more closely. He also just did an Eagle surgery this week, and several of my other doctors said that he is known as an excellent reputation. I think my first visit caught him off guard, he was running really late that day and I think he just didn’t take the time to see it on the scans properly. There also were a few in here that have had surgery by him and seem to do well from what I could tell. I think he does actually care about his patients. If he makes up now for the bad start and gets back to me within a week, I will forgive the bad start I think.
Oh my goodness, I cannot believe how much knocking down the jaw pain helped. The MRI I had did show arthritis in my left side of the jaw where it connects to the skull, so dentist was telling me he didn’t think I would get 100% improvement in that area. We’ve got 75-80% improvement in my TMJ area and jaw pain in just 3 months, which is amazing to me.
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Great attitude, redfaery! No one is perfect, not even a very experienced doctor. Even they make mistakes sometimes & your reasoning for why Dr. Bumpous missed your elongated styloids makes perfect sense.
I’m so glad for the relief you’ve gotten for your jaw pain. It is absolutely true that when we’re dealing w/ great pain, everything in life is a lot more difficult. As far as percent of recovery from surgery goes, only time will tell with that. 
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You have sold me on the laser therapy! I hope it works as well for me as it did for you. I am glad your doc redeemed himself and that you have full confidence in him. Everyone makes mistakes and it takes a good one to set aside ego and admit it.
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And the latest in my get surgery for redfaery saga. Dr. Bumpous’s office finally got the scan from the dentist and compared it to the MRI. They said he’s concerned about where the carotid is compared to my SP’s. So the test you all have told me is best, CT with contrast is finally being ordered. Once he has that and can see where the carotid is regards to the SP then he can figure out which side is more in need to go first and will schedule surgery. And I have an official Eagle Syndrome diagnosis now! His assistant said he said both were extremely long.
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HOORAY for being official, redfaery!! Now may the wheels keep rolling at a rapid pace so you can begin your recovery!
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So glad you took that screenshot of your scan with you! And that he took the time to look at it, well done you! Hope the CT doesn’t take too long to organise & you get the results quickly!
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I have a surgery date! October 20th, 2020. So less than a month. Dr. Bumpous said we are doing the right side first because it is actually quite a bit longer than the left, though he said both are “impressive” in length. Doing this intraoral, he thinks will be best way to get to it, I had my tonsils out as a kid, so that won’t be an obstacle. 1-2 weeks recovery time, though I told my work 2-3 because I have autoimmune and other health issues and it always takes me longer.
Already spoke to work, they are ok with me taking a full 2 weeks or longer if need be, and also said if I felt well enough to do some work from home, even part time so as to not use up all my Paid Time Off, we could do that as well. They’ve got another person out recovering from a cancer surgery, so they aren’t sure if that person will be back next month or not, I told the boss if I am feeling well enough to do a few hours after the first week or so, I will. Wanted to stress that she said I do not have to unless I am feeling up to it.
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Great news that you have a surgery date & not too long away! Yay! I would be cautious about recovery time though; some members have been well enough to do a desk job after a couple of weeks, but intra-oral surgery can be longer to recover from…good that you can work from home though, that’ll help!
Really pleased for you & will be praying for you!
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One of the reasons I told the boss an extra week, and I know this company if it ends up I need another week beyond that, I’ll get it, I just only have a little over a week in paid time off right now (I actually get almost 3 weeks a year but doctor visits and the like have eaten away at a good portion of that. ) If I’m able to do every a couple hours a day after a couple of weeks I’ll try it, just going to play it by ear. Dr. Bumpous said that since I had my tonsils out years ago it will be much easier on me since he won’t have to take those out as well.
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Also wanted to add that he is planning on getting all of the styloid out, as short as he possibly can, and will make sure it’s smooth on the end. He’s done several intraoral Eagle Surgeries this past year alone. He answered all my questions and gave me odds of various things, like pain levels his previous patients have had, and returning to work considering I work as an IT/Helpdesk worker and I can do half my job without talking if need be boss said, and can work from home part time for a little bit if need be. Here’s hoping things go really well.
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That is GREAT NEWS, redfaery! So glad you’re close to getting ES taken care of!
How great that you work for a compassionate company that will give you the time you need to recover from your surgery. Just make sure you take it easy & let your family/friends take care of you while you recover. Doing too much too fast will slow recovery.
I’ll put your surgery date on my calendar so I can pray for you that day in particular.
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Got the results of my CT with contrast back, this is what he had to say about the SPs.
There is prominent calcification of the stylohyoid ligaments
bilaterally. On the left it is calcified down from the stylomastoid
foramen all the way down to within 14 mm of the anterosuperior lateral
margin of the left hyoid bone and on the right it is diffusely calcified
with 6 mm interruption of the C2 cervical level and then demonstrates
further calcification down to within 5 to 6 mm of the superior aspect of
the right side of the hyoid bone.
Can anyone interpret?