Pain after surgery

The CT measurements aren’t always accurate, lots of members have found after surgery that their styloids were longer than they were measured, so that might be way the figures are a bit out. Such a shame for you, I hope that you hear from Dr Samji soon, thinking of you.

Hi tatianac ~

I’ve been thinking about you & was going to send you a PM to check in. You got to it first! I’m glad your pain is better controlled now but am sorry it’s taking such strong medications.

It does sound to me like not enough styloid was removed & I also think Jules speculation about a piece being left in or the tip of the styloid not being smoothed off could apply.

Dr. Samji likes to read the CTs himself as he doesn’t fully trust what the radiology reports say. It will be interesting to know what he thinks. I hope you’re able to speak with him soon.

What a frustrating situation for you. It’s time for you to really find out what’s going on!

:hugs:

Thanks for your care, concern and help. You and Jules!
As soon as I hear from dr Samji I will let you know.

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Thanks for your care and concern Jules.

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tatianac, hang in there.
I just saw Dr. Samji for in person consult on Tuesday (2/4) and he reviewed my scan with me. Even though radiologist report indicated pieces of calcifications, he did not agree. He explained that there is a certain amount of interpolation (estimated) done by the software of what occurs between the slices of the scans. His review found the styloid process longer than radiologist and strong opinion it is continuous in my case. He wont know until he goes in there and indicated when it is not continuous, it can complicate the procedure more requiring larger incision and more work to take individual pieces out. My question would be, how many surgeries such as these has your surgeon done? Intra vs external? I would tend to agree, the more the manipulation and digging around in there, the higher chance of nerve damage occuring. I was advised my TMJ symptoms would worsen after surgery and should subside. I have constant ear pain now and praying the surgery will alleviate the pain. Sometimes things get worse before they get better however after 6 months out, this kind of severe pain should not be there.

I hope you get to the bottom of this pain. I feel your pain and understand your desperation. I had not heard of the Fiesta MRI Jules has mentioned and plan to look into that as Ive had a history of nerve compression. I have had a Neurogram which is an MRI that reads nerves and shows compressions.
Based on past surgeries I have found the surgeons who specialize in specific areas of the body who read their own scans vs radiologists have more experience reviewing their area of expertise and see things radiologists don’t see. Given Dr. Samji has done about 450 of these procedures, I feel confident in his abilities to operate on me and scheduled for first (L) side in early April. In a surgery I had in 1989, a surgeon (orthopedic) severed a nerve in my left hip. It took alot of testing (EMG) to determine what happened. Ive always felt a neurosurgeon should have opened me up first as they are more in tune to nerves than orthopedic docs.
I hope all goes well with Dr. Samji and that the nerve blocks continue to work. Ive thought about the gamma knife procedure for pain myself. When you are desperate and in extreme pain, you will do just about anything to get relief. Even for a short period of time.

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Hey
Dr. Samji is the best when it comes to eagle surgery. You are in good hands.

Thanks for your inputs!

Wish you the best!

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Almost 3 weeks post surgery. Jaw pain almost gone but throat still hurts a lot. Dr said it could last for months. Any ideas?

It is early days still, hang in there, you will have ups & downs, try to focus on the positives. If you can use ice packs it might still help? But nerves can take months to heal, even up to a year, it won’t be a quick fix…thinking of you & sending you a hug.

Jodi

My ear and throat pain after 6 months are finally subsiding but In your case, I agree with Jules. It is too soon to worry about it.

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tatianac,

That is WONDERFUL NEWS! I’m so glad you’re getting some relief after all this time. I hope the pain continues to disappear until it’s all the way gone!

:hugs:

Thank you for your response it really helped. I can live with this pain as long as it will go away someday. I’m telling people I’m ok cause I’ve complained for too long. Lol

Thanks for all your support!!!
I am really glad that little by little I am getting better

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tatianac,
Unfortunately, nerves can be super slow to heal, but happily, they do recover over time. It can feel like FOREVER when the pain is intense/chronic and is such a relief & restores hope when you finally start seeing improvement. I’m so glad you’re finally headed in the recovery direction. :blush:

:blush::blush::blush::blush::open_hands::open_hands::open_hands::open_hands::open_hands::open_hands::heart::heart::heart::heart::heart:

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It’s almost six weeks post surgery. I’m still in a great amount of pain at times, especially when I sleep. It’s still extremely hard and painful to eat. I had the intraoral surgery. Now on top of everything I have to worry about the corona virus. I don’t think I could survive even getting a common cold. Sorry to be so negative but I am in so much pain for so long. I had a list op cat scan and they say everything is fine. No infection. I take gabapentin and Motrin but it doesn’t help.

So sorry that you’re finding it so tough, I do think intra-oral is a harder recovery. There are other pain medications which can help, so it might be worth trying a different one. There’s info in the Newbies Guide Section, I think under ‘ES Info- Treatments’. Otherwise Bens Friends have a Facial Pain group which have lots of info about that if it’s nerve pain you have. I take Amitriptyline which helps, again it doesn’t for everyone, but it helps me sleep too! I found sleeping semi-upright helps too.
I know the corona virus is a scary thought, but it is mild for many people. I’m avoiding crowded places as much as possible, I don’t want to pass it on to relatives who could get it badly. It’s spreading quite quickly in the UK too…
I’ll keep praying for you, seding you a hug :bouquet:

Hi Jules

I am having a hard time trying to sleep because of pain, especially on the side where it hurts. I remember you said you have or had something similar happening to you.

I ask you this because as I previously told you I am worried the pointy styloid is damaging nerve all around. On the other hand pain is getting somehow different from what it used to be right after surgery. I can not say if it is worse or better. All I know it is different.

Did you have the styloid process cut all the way to the base of the cranium or just part of it like me?

Thanks again Jules

Mine was cut back to the skull base. I slept semi upright for a long time, using a wedge pillow & a V shaped pillow as well, I found that helpful. I also take Amitriptyline for the nerve pain, & that helps me to sleep. Most people find that ice helps, but it didn’t with me, it made it worse, heat helps me more.
I hope you can find something to help you too, really feel for you that you’re still in so much pain.

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Hi Jodi,

I’m in Jules “camp”. There are many other pain & nerve pain medications that you could try (under the direction of your doctor) that might work better for you. I don’t know what dose of Gabapentin you’re on, but we had one member who had to gradually increase her dose of Gabapentin over several months until she finally hit the dosage that stopped her pain. That may be your case as well, or you may just need a different medication that has a different pathway for treating your pain. Please talk to your doctor about this. When pain is as bad as yours, it’s hard for your body to heal because your brain is so focused on dealing w/ the pain. If you can get on top of that, your surgical recovery is likely to progress more quickly.

You seemed to be doing better for a bit, tatianac. I’m sorry to read that has changed. I hope Jules advice is very helpful!