Post op day 4

So glad that your surgery went well & your recovery is doing well also. Did your surgeon shave the styloid back to the skull base?

He said he did. My follow up is Wednesday so I’ll ask again at that time. I don’t remember a ton of the conversation after the surgery!! Even these past few days are a bit of a blur.

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Great to hear!!

Don’t forget (and if you are interested) you can ask if they will share a photo of the removed styloid when you go for your return visit.
I felt really great the day of surgery and into the next. As everyone says in the posts above - it’s the days after all the meds from surgery start to wear off that I became easily fatigued and a little more uncomfortable.
Rest and take full advantage of your time off.

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How wonderful! Take it slow…I cannot believe you were released to go back home the same day??? It took me a week in the hospital because both sides were done through my mouth. It took me at least 4 months to recover because I am also a Diabetic.

You will be feeling so much better now that you have had the surgery. Life will change for the better. I delight in your well being. My life changed after the surgery.

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Thank you so much for sharing. I am in the Tampa Bay Area and have been researching Dr. Bunnell. I was just diagnosed so I am at the very beginning. I hope you have a speedy recovery and thank you again.

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I had my follow up with Dr. Bunnell today. I am very pleased with him and my results. He did not remove the styloid down to the skull but left a small nub behind. He says if you take it to the skull you risk nerve damage since the facial nerve runs right there and there is an increase risk for bleeding. I’m happy to post my follow up scan and pic of bone removed. He took off about 3.5 cm and my original pain I. The neck and jaw are completely gone. My left side is also long and he says 50/50 chance it will one day become symptomatic. I cannot recommend him enough. I was dismissed by many docs along the way and he was and is very sympathetic to patients with ES

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Really good news that you’re seeing improvements already! And glad that you found a good doctor! Everyone’s anatomy is different; most doctors proceed with caution & monitor nerves so only remove as much as is safe to do. Good that your other side is asymptomatic, I don’t want to put a downer on things but sometimes the second side can get worse after the first side’s removed.
Keep taking care of yourself & keep healing :grinning:

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Wow do you know what the length is of the left one? It looks super long. I’m surprised that isn’t causing issues for you. Thanks for the update, glad to hear when things are going well!

I’m so glad all is going so well with your recovery! It’s also great that Dr. Bunnell did an “after” scan. Many of us have wondered what was left behind after we had surgery. You get to see it in your case, in a timely fashion. :gift_heart:

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Yes! I was so thrilled to be able to see the “after”. It’s amazing what it does to the brain to actually see that you are better and seeing the bone he cut out. All very confirmatory. He said it was barely a centimeter left behind.

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Glad you made it thru MelinG. I tend to push myself too and had the same…feeling good in am so I did too much and then have to rest in afternoons. I found I wasn’t in too much pain and didn’t take any pain meds in am and liked being clear headed. After day 3, I only took one pain med about 3-5PM to take the edge off and seemed to do fine. I also iced and had prednisone for 10 days which made a huge difference. You will have some setbacks along the way. It seems 4, 6, 8 and 12 weeks out are milestones. Surgery 1 & 2 were totally different for me but listen to your body. Dont over do it. Easier said than done

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So glad to hear that your symptoms are gone! That is awesome news!

How are you now a few months post op? I have an appointment with him coming up. And did you have any vascular compression going on with your Eagles?

Is this image from the back or the front?

I am great! Minimal discomfort. Most days I forget anything was done. He was a fantastic doc!! Good luck!!!

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Also that image was from the back of my skull.

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Gotcha, thank you :blush:

No vascular compression.

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Good luck to you!!!