Hang in there blossom. You will see some progressive improvement about 5-6 weeks out, then 8 and by 12 weeks you should be in good shape. I had my good and bad days. My COVID booster also took me for a loop. Was down for 1-2 days from it. Didnt have that with first 2 doses.
I found gentle massage and acupuncture of my neck to help with the headaches.
Im glad you have made it back to work and that sweet baby distracting you. 
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Iām four weeks from surgery today. Iām doing a lot better than I was doing week 2-3. Iāve had more good days than bad over the past ten days or so. I still take Tylenol or ibuprofen and/or flexeril before bed occasionally because it seems any symptoms I have are worst at night. Otherwise Iābe been pain free most of the day, which feels amazing! The symptoms Iāve had lately really are not that bad in the scheme of things, just getting comfortable enough to sleep is a little bit of a struggle at times. Mainly just neck stiffness and occasionally a very mild headache on right side. I still have first bite but itās gotten less intense for the most part. Some of the numbness in my neck is subsiding so the skin feels kinda itchy and weirdā¦ but overall I donāt notice it much. I think my neck and jaw and around my ear is still a tad puffy but itās not noticeable really. Iām doing very well overall, just had a bit of a rough patch. Thanks all for the support and encouragement!
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Blossom,
I am glad you are doing better. I felt that 6 weeks, then 8 were noticable improvements and by week 12 almost fully functional. During the days I am busy, I tried to ignore minor aches and pains. At night when it was time to sleep, it hit me too.
I was brave enough to start getting some massage and some light massage on the scar tissue. It helped with the neck tightness. I also had acupuncture with tens unit which seemed to help the nerves turn back on and improve numbness. I also had some first bite but not bad, had acupuncture in my jaw too. Overall I thought it was helpful.
Happy and improved healing
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So glad that youāre having more good days, & for the encouraging post- so good for others to read about the downs of recovery as well as the ups, to get the true picture! Keep healing well
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Thanks @Snapple2020 ! Dr Hepworthās NP mentioned she thought gentle massage was helpful about weeks 6-8 and she also mentioned acupuncture. Great to hear those things helped you, Iād be willing to try both! Iām going for my next follow up appt next week so Iāll ask her if she has any recommendations on where to go.
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Your incision continues to look great! Before long you wonāt even notice itās there. The neck crease incisions really do disappear as they heal! Iām so glad to read that youāre feeling a lot better! I totally agree w/ Snappleās time line for recovery. I will add that I had another leap at about 6 months & again at 9 mos w/ little annoying remainders disappearing. 
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Hello everyone. Just wanted to update as I had my one month from surgery follow up with Dr Hepworthās office today.
The NP told me that the moderna vaccine likely caused vascular inflammation and that is why I had a setback 
can take six weeks for that to resolve but I noticed a big improvement one week after the booster. I feel silly for having done that, but my fiancĆ© is very high risk for Covid and me being a nanny, I wanted to protect everyone around me. Didnāt have issues with my first two shots so I figured it would be fine. I should have called them first at least. Oh well! Itās done now and no use dwelling on it, but I wanted to share in case anyone else is in a similar boat.
Weāre going to try a two week trial of plavix to see if that gets me on the right track. Iāve had more symptoms flaring this week, but last week was good, so it just varies a lot. The plavix helped me a lot before surgery so Iām hopeful it will help with the pre surgery symptoms and fingers crossed after the two week trial Iāll be in better shape.
For first bite Iām trying a short round of steroids. No promises it will help. Not sure I want to take them as they cause such bad side effects but I am considering it. The first bite really isnāt that bad all things considered.
For the scar she recommended something called biocorneum oil which I found on Amazon. It is silicone based. And she also recommended doing some lymphatic drainage massage of the area to help with scar tissue and weird nerve sensations. Iāll definitely be trying these things! Have been having more weird shooting pains in my ear, so I am guessing the nerves are waking up.
We are doing a repeat ultrasound of my jugular in mid December to check how things are flowing. Overall she reminded me to be patient as I am still early days. If I overdo it activity-wise she warned I may notice some symptoms flaring in the days following. My nannying gig is ending this week, so Iām looking forward to some time to rest and relax. I think it has been a good distraction but also sometimes makes me wonder if I am overdoing it.
Overall Iām feeling like Iām maybe 50-70 percent improved, depending on the day, with just a few lingering headachesā¦ they are less intense however. Also some neck stiffness but Iām definitely in better shape than I was before surgery, so Iām hopeful itāll keep improving! Next follow ups are in January and March.
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It does sound like itās been up & down for you, but that is common, hopefully youāll be feeling more normal over the next few weeksā¦glad that you found the nannying distracting, but it could well have been a bit much, carrying that baby aboutā¦hopefully the medications will help you & everything settles soon. Take care
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Hi Blossom! Glad you are progressing and getting improvement. I hope the steroids knock down somw of that inflammation. That is very interesting your booster would cause vascular inflammation. I did fine the 1st two also but the booster did throw me for a loop too. I have been having what might be some vascular issues since about the last week of October. Struggling with vertigo, ear fullness, hearing loss and the like. I just finished a round of steroids myself which took 3 doctor visits to finally get as I knew things were inflammed. An MRI shows something going on in the sigmoid sinus. I thought that meant my sinusās like what is connected to my nose. The sigmoid sinus sits behind the ear and dumps into the jugular. I wondered myself about whether the vaccination triggered something.
Ah yeah, I think you are over-doing it! I am glad you will now have some time to rest. get yourself some nice massage and acupunture. I had those shooting nerve pains too. It feels strange to be so numb and then little tingling startsā¦
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