It’s now 11 days post-op and I have a significant downturn today. I’ve developed cold symptoms and a fever, so I spoke to my family doctor’s office. They don’t think it’s related to the surgery wound since the wound is not abnormally painful or swollen. I probably just caught something from my kid. Lots of nerve pain and dizziness, even with pregabalin, which could be from the neck movement of coughing overnight.
I must say that I’m pretty upset about the whole thing and welcome any and all prayers and advice. I’m taking the max amount of tylenol and only hydromorphone at night to help with sleep. I know it’s just a matter of time, but this is really really rough…
I’m so sorry you’ve gotten sick especially with a cough as that sounds really terribly painful so soon after intraoral surgery @AS2005. I do agree w/ your your doctor’s office that it’s not surgery related.
I’ve found when I have a cough, drinking frequently is helpful to keep the coughing urge reduced. You can choose cold or warm water/tea, etc. to see what feels best. The old home remedy of warm water w/ lemon juice & honey can also be helpful though the lemon juice might irritate your incision. Also gargling (if you can do this) w/ salt water can help hurry healing from the cold because it changes the pH in your throat & makes it less hospitable for the virus. Try 1/8-1/4 tsp salt in 8 oz of warm water. You decide how salty you can tolerate it.
Thank you - I have been doing the salt water about 4x per day since I came home and it is helping. I have not tried warm water yet, but good idea to give it a go. Thank you all for this community…
I am so sorry. I’m in the waiting process to figure out surgery… But I did end up with an ear infection this week. And the swelling from that brought on all the symptoms at once again…
The best thing that helped me was a round of antibiotics and asked for a steroid pack. I started at 40 mg down to 10 which was really helpful. Am keeping the gabapentin and ibuprofen around the clock and Flexeril and Tylenol if needed as well. And of course ice. Oh, and also, I have lidocaine patches. Basically throwing everything at it that I can. Highly recommend lidocaine if you’ve not done that yet.
Poor you, getting a virus with intra-oral recovery is tough
I know when I’ve had any sort of virus (& we have had mentions in the discussions about this) it really flares up nerve pain, ES symptoms etc for some reason, so I would imagine this is what’s happening with you, don’t panic that it’s a permanent setback, I’m sure it’ll all settle down once you’re over it…hugs & more prayers for you
I forgot to add that using a Q-tip to swab the inside of your nose w/ salt water is also supposed to help knock the virus out faster. Not sure if this fact or fiction, but it doesn’t hurt to try.
It reminds me of the “accident” when a defective RAD test swab stick broke inside of my nostril and got stuck. Luckily, the tip could still be reached with a pair of tweezers, and the main concern was not to sniff it in while trying to fish it out, or not to sneeze (it was itchy as hell). Since then, I always check all sticks for any imperfections before pushing them into my snout
4 weeks post-surgery and a quick update that I’m pretty much recovered from COVID, apart from the fatigue (which might also be after-effect of surgery).
As I heal, I seem to have more range of motion in my neck, which is giving me hope that the fainting episodes might be over. I think my hearing on that side has improved, as well as the ocular nerve pain, but the ear pain is still there. I had another swallowing x-ray last week and am making good progress. I am still experiencing neck pain and some speech problems, which are very slowly improving.
I’m glad you’re finally past the COVID ordeal. Not what you needed while recovering from major surgery! I had post op fatigue for a couple of months after each of my surgeries so there is a light at the end of that tunnel.
By 6 mos. post op, you’ll have a much better idea of what is recovering well & what might is being slower to heal or maybe will remain for the long term. I had symptoms that took close to a year before they went away. Recovery is slow but as you’ve already noted some good improvements, I expect there is more good recovery to come for you.
I visited FL to see Dr. Hauser on 10/16. I did come back with a horrible cold (not covid apparently). Several people at the airports were sick…that was obvious. Hope you’re doing better.
Now at 2 months post-op and I’m up and about more. No fainting yet and no pre-surgery dizziness (except when I bend down sometimes).
Still some throat and speech and swallowing issues, including nerve pain in the jaw. But still seeing slow and steady progress. Did any of you have stitches intraorally that did not dissolve right? Everything looks okay when I check with a flashlight but it doesn’t feel 100% healed up yet in there.
I have reduced Lyrica by 50% slowly over the past few weeks, and no nerve zaps or additional nerve pain have returned, so that’s good.
I return to work next week, so I’m a bit nervous about that, but all in all, pleased with the results so far. Fingers crossed for more improvement! Thank you all!
So pleased that you’re seeing improvements, I’ve been thinking of you so was going to message you…it sounds like steady progress, brilliant that your dizziness has improved!
Have you got a follow up appt where you can ask about your throat, or is it worth seeing your GP/ PCP? Hopefully others who’ve had intra-oral surgery can give you an idea about healing with this op…
And hope that it goes okay going back to work
Thank you for the update, @AS2005! It’s great to hear how you’re improving. Intraoral surgery is definitely a tougher recovery as far as the throat is concerned. I agree w/ @Jules, it would be a good idea to contact your doctor about your throat just to make sure all is well.
I expect you’ll continue to experience nerve recovery over the next 4-8 months & even beyond. I hope all your dizziness goes away when you’re in any position but so good that it’s significantly reduced from pre-surgery.
I don’t know if you can consider starting back to work part time, but it might be worthwhile trying that if they’ll let you or working from home some of the days so you can rest if you need to. Worth asking about.
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