DO EVERYTHING YOUR TOLD! Take time for yourself to heal. Joke with Dr C . He’s a great guy. Dr T also a great team. I brought sour lemon drop sucky candies because I was worried about first bite. Altoids to feel fresh but also helps calm the tummy. Ear plugs for the hospital because it’s so busy though I didn’t wear them because of the facial numbness. Eye blinders fire the same busy hospital reasons. Music soothes me so bring your ear buds. This is all about you!. Watch your posture no looking down at devices. Walk, walk, walk! Anti inflammatory diet, no carbs, sugars dairy. Or at least to a minimum. Hydrate to you have to pee a hundred times a day, lol. Seriously-get that junk they put in you out of your system as quick as you can. And keep hydrating when home. Rest and listen to your body! There is probably so much more. Just be prepared ahead of time, be realistic on expectations but be excited and positive this is big and you’ll do great- we have a brilliant surgical team!
So pleased for you @lilwider 
I’m so happy to hear that you are recovering well!
Thanks so much for all of the helpful info! There are things you mentioned that I didn’t think of, so I appreciate it. I’ve already started the anti-inflammatory diet, so hoping that will help me in surgery & recovery. I’m concerned about first bite too, so I will definitely get some lemon candies. I am so happy for you that you are doing well. I hope that everything went great at your follow-up visit & that you keep making wonderful progress!
When I consulted with Dr. Osbourne he said first bite has to do with irritation of the parotid gland which produces saliva. He said to avoid citrus and other sour/acidic foods after surgery because they make you produce more saliva. So maybe lemon candy isn’t the best choice?
Yes follow up was good, both drs are happy with how I’m healing. They even took the bandage off which I was surprised. No complaints
I don’t know if that’s what’s working for me but I’m still going to continue doing what I’m doing because it hasn’t shown it’s ugly head for me. I also, do green tea with lemon in the morning.
@Chrickychricky that’s a good point, it could irritate the parotid even more…although it does seem to vary a bit person to person what affects them, sweet stuff could bring mine on, & tomatoes, I still get a little twinge every now & then!
So, I think that I will have a variety of things on hand since it seems that the triggers vary person to person. I know that lemon can increase saliva production because when my daughter was younger she was prescribed lemon drops as a fix for a clogged salivary gland. Thanks for letting us know what Dr. Osbourne said.
So happy for you! That’s totally great that the bandage got taken off & everything looks good. You’re doing really well for so soon after surgery!
Actually, First Bite Syndrome has to do w/ irritation to the glossopharyngeal nerve during surgery which is the nerve that innervates the parotid gland. The parotid gland is the largest of our salivary glands & sits in the side of the face just below the jaw joint. It’s what over-reacts & causes the FBS pain. FBS is a very common side effect of surgeries in the area of the neck where the styloids are thus people who have cancer surgeries & other surgeries in that area often end up w/ FBS.
I was just looking through to find a couple of people that have had surgery with Dr Constantino and came across yours 
looks like you’re doing great! Although some growing pains… I am hoping you might be able to help me out. Had surgery with Dr Hepworth 10:00 days ago. Unfortunately I was sent home without any instruction And their office is notoriously difficult to get ahold of or get through to anyone. Would you be willing to share with me your postoff instructions that you got from Constantino? I’m less concerned about literally the wound itself and more interested in when to start things like range of motion, When to start range of motion where you stop before you’re feeling any stretch versus the type where you do a little stretch, when he said it’s okay to start physical therapy, if he instructed any physical therapy,
I am unfortunately having severe impact from the accessory nerve and cannot be upright for more than a minute without paying that can be excruciating. So the gentle walking around that I would have expected to be doing is completely out of reach right now for me. My neck muscle that the cut went through is like a tight and furious contraction. It doesn’t hurt so much as that it is really contracting hard. Cannot side bend away at all and can rotate but only a little bit. It does not hurt in this pulling really hard. If I am rinsing my face for example I will suddenly notice that my head is angled 45 degrees toward that shoulder. I know that this cannot be good in the mid to long term. Probably an overshare, but I thought it were sharing what’s behind the ask. Really looking for as detailed as he was anything that you can share. If you would be willing to take a picture and send it through in the messenger I would be so grateful! I promise not to reshare as it is not mine to do so with. Fingers crossed and I hope that you continue to have a positive recovery. PS, I use dictation and not really reviewing at this point before hitting enter. I find that my messages are pretty hilarious but generally at least understandable
All good, I’ll try and help as much as I can. Yes I’m doing surprisingly well I’m not complaining, but like you I’m having issue with the accessory nerve. I had an ah ha moment yesterday. Hubby had a posture brace I put on to try and get some of the weight off the arm and shoulder-HOLY COW…I had almost full range of motion! No discomfort. When I walked today I had it the first walk and it was nice, comfortable. The second walk I left it off and wasnt feeling that great when I got home. The green cloud of pollen didn’t help. I didn’t have much discharge instructions. Enough that I actually called the office to question icing. They said if it makes me feel better go ahead, but he Said that the trauma is so deep ice isn’t doing anything, and the sweating of the ice isn’t good for the incision. I have only iced a handful of times over the last 10 days mostly the first 3 before he was back in the office to ask. Luckily I don’t have to much swelling or pain. Barely took Tylenol, but I do at nite just in case. NO REPETITIVE NECK MOVEMENTS OR ARM Movements , no lifting, no driving. Do not try and stretch especially to discomfort. I do turn my head slow to get a slight stretch but I think they don’t want tension on the surgical site. Limit bending over. Physical therapy after 4 weeks supposedly but may be different for everyone. I have a feeling I’m going to be sooner. He took off my steri strips at 6 days, other patients of his were 2 weeks. I have been doing slight arm movements and range of motion to help strengthen the shoulder and back As far as showering after 5 days you can shower but don’t let the water run directly on the surgical site. Only baby shampoo from the torso up. Do not scrub or rub the scar. Watch for signs of infection. This is about all they mentioned. Hopefully I’m not forgetting anything. I’m here for you if I can.
I disagree with this statement. The swelling comes all the way to the surface so any reduction that can be attained by icing will help even at the lower level. Besides that, I believe the cold does penetrate deeply based on personal experience.
His comment about ice sweating not being good for the incision may also be a moot point if a gel pack is used since a covered gel pack does not sweat. Ice in a ziplock could be a problem though. In both cases we recommend placing a thin towel or cloth between the ice & skin to protect from getting ice burns.
I could hug you for responding! So so much for this. It’s extremely helpful here it lines up with what Isaiah has been saying about no PT before 4 weeks. The tightness at my neck is actually kind of ridiculous. It can’t even turn to look to the right or side bend at all in that direction. And my left was the worst before 
I did start doing a little bit of gentle looking right left up down when my muscle relaxant kicked in this evening. I feel like that should be OK…? Otherwise I might not be able to move at all by the time 4 weeks or up. It’s repetitive but therapeutically done so with attention to the movement itself. Did he say no driving for 4 weeks? There’s obviously no driving at all for me right now since I can’t use my left arm, but curious if this resolved quicker what his timeline was for that. I have an adhesive allergy. And amazingly dr Hepworth didn’t put anything on top of the stitching at all. It was wide open to the world. And sure enough it’s healing just fine. Stitches removed one week later. That’s a great idea to try a posture brace. Shoulder sling hasn’t really been helping. But a brace that kind of pulls it up and back…? Might actually help. I notice if I grab my left shoulder and pull it in to my body and up that immediately relieves most of the pain. So maybe an ace bandage wrapped really tightly around both shoulders if nothing else works Do your muscles spasm and really contract. If you Laugh or smile does it just like yank down and contract on you as well? That flat muscle that goes across the neck and up to the bottom of your jaw I mean? I’m wondering if this is normal for some of us or just another quirk of my silly over reactive body? I’m so glad you got out for a walk. That you have been walking. I’m sorry to hear that you’re also struggling a little bit to shoulder stuff.
PSI probably should have added that it might be a little more extreme for me because my accessory nerve was tangled up along with two others in my jugular vein. So he had to manipulate it to untangle the thing. But he told my husband that he expected me to feel great after a week… so I’m guessing that this part is maybe either tied to the inflammation or a little bit of damage that happened when he untangled it. Fingers crossed it will get better once we know how to correctly address it and are able to.
I do agree with both of you, and yes common sense is to wrap something absorbent around your pack. But as requested I’m only relaying Dr. C instructions to me.
I am fortunate on recovery so far and haven’t really needed to ice
I will try to answer all of your questions but if I forget something call me out on it and I’ll reply again. I’m trying to express my experience so far as best as possible. Yes that’s what I have been hearing that physical therapy will start after 4 weeks. But again Il will see what happens May 30th, if I don’t respond to you after May 30th follow up appointment reach out to remind me LOL. I do have slight tightness in my neck and not as much range of motion, I’m expecting that it’s okay. I just slowly look to the left and then to the right just where I feel a little bit of resistance and that’s where I stop. He did not give me a time frame on driving. So I’m assuming that he’ll give me more directions on the 30th. I technically drive for a living, I’m in the car quite a bit so I think that they are treating me with kid gloves when it comes to that because it’s going to be relentless turning my head. I just had the steri strips and glue I’m assuming. There may be some stitches internally?! But there’s no external stitches on me. But I guess with the adhesive allergy they have to be cautious what they use obviously. Yes the posture brace has seemed to have helped quite a bit relieve the tension in my shoulder. Yesterday when I walked I used it the first time going out and everything was good I didn’t put it on the second time and my shoulder was bothering me quite a bit. Just like all of us it’s a learning experience. I don’t want to rely on it, I want to get those muscle strong but I’m also being cautious until the 30th I don’t want to be in any discomfort. You could try an Ace bandage in a figure eight shape and see if that would help but may I think it would just be easier to order something on Amazon and if it doesn’t work send it back. I don’t have muscle spasms just tightness and it’s like my muscles don’t know what to do how I move. It sounds weird but if you really concentrate on your movement and what you’re doing it seems like it gives me better reaction and smoother movement. No I don’t have any issues under my jaw if I smile-really just it’s sore I’m starting to get my feeling back a little by little each day. I’m okay with everything going on, even the shoulder. I was prepared for some setbacks. There’s quite a few cranial nerves four or five if I’m not mistaken that are affected by this surgery. And right now it seems that he accessory nerve is the one that’s got me so far. Only time will tell and I’ll know more on the 30th. I hope I helped a little bit. Have a great day and happy healing
Yes my accessory nerve was entangled as well also with my C1
@akc - my glossopharyngeal nerve was wrapped around my rt. styloid like a vine & had to be unwrapped so the styloid could be shortened. I think the irritation caused to the GPN by the unwrapping process is what caused such intense First Bite issues for me. It took a good 6-9 months for my GPN to settle down & “normalize”. I think Dr. Hepworth definitely erred on the accessory nerve recovery timeline. I certainly don’t expect you’ll be in agony for 6 months, but the process for nerve recovery is slow & steady requires patience. I hope your recovery is quicker than mine was. 