Glad you had a decent day at work & I applaud your taking a nap at lunch. Rest is key to recovery so listening to your body & resting when it asks will only expedite your recovery. Your work plan for the week sounds perfect as does your attitude about healing.
I did go back to exercising 2 weeks after my first ES surgery & learned that was WAAAAAY too soon even for gentle exercise. It did slow my recovery but that was probably because I kept pushing myself rather than backing off & letting my body heal. Learn from my mistake & err on the side of rest as opposed to activity if youāre in pain or tired.
I spoke with Dr. Samji yesterday about the incision and lingering symptoms. On the incision, he said he thought the lump on my neck is lymphedema. He explained that a horizontal incision in the neck cuts through the vertical lymph drainage pathways and they take 4-6 weeks to re-grow. He recommended trying to gently massage the fluid down from my chin and around the incision using vitamin E or aloe to help it flow around the new āroad blockā. Couldnāt find straight aloe and I donāt have a plant so I bought the expensive vitamin E. I asked about the silicone patches and he said yes to those and also recommended going back to some icing. Hereās a photo.
He said he would expect more symptom relief by 6 weeks and that it was really just too soon now. I was having a hard time looking downward at work again yesterday and we talked about potentially getting a positional CT done but he doesnāt recommend this as there is no way to standardize the procedure and control for variables. For example, how would you make sure everyoneās head is adjusted at exactly the same angle? That definitely makes sense to me but it would be nice to visualize if the flow is restricted by the styloid there to any degree. He wants to go by symptoms instead. We will wait a bit longer to decide about the second side. Itās not causing pain though.
redbird773 - HOORAY for low blood pressure after the battle youāve done w/ it being high. Thereās another symptom that is recovering that you can check off your list! It is curious that low blood pressure makes us feel lousy but high blood pressure often has no symptoms until it causes a major health problem if undetected.
Thank you for this update & the picture. Glad for the info Dr. Samji gave you as I learned something new regarding the lymph system. I hope the swelling in your neck begins to subside soon. It does look pretty uncomfy from the picture.
It is interesting how our bodies heal differently. I had a lot of swelling under my chin on the right side after my first surgery but my neck wasnāt bad. Donāt know why my body sent lymph fluid upward. It would have made more sense for it to be around my incision.
Thanks! It is pretty exciting:) I guess some folks can have a prednisone withdrawal, which causes low cortisol and low blood pressure, but that is usually the people that donāt taper down as directed or those that have been on it for a long time. This was only a 2-week regimen and I tapered exactly as instructed, so I doubt this is what happened in my case. I guess if it creeps back up then I can blame drug withdrawal, but Iām currently rooting for lack of styloid or ligament rubbing on internal carotid baroreceptors as the cause for lowered bpš
@SewMomma the second ligament attached to the styloid that the surgeon removed was the stylomandibular ligament. It does not attach to the tongue, as I had speculated in a previous reply. Here are 3 diagrams showing this ligament. One also shows the stylohyoid ligament that we are more familiar with. I donāt know if itās possible for the stylomandibular ligament to calcify, but it never seems to show up in peopleās CTs so perhaps it does not. I canāt remember what your scans looked like if you posted them.
Hi! I love these diagrams. I donāt see stylohyoid ligament labeled anywhere. Am I missing it? I am praying and hoping that whatever calcification he saw in there the first time is all gone because Iām a month away from my second surgery and I feel like a lot is riding on this final step. I really, really want a normal swallow again. My very first symptom 1.5 years ago now was an uncoordinated swallow and I have so many expectations that that will end after May 30th, my second side.
Howās today going for ya?
@SewMomma the S-H ligament is only included in the middle diagram and the label is cut off. All 3 show the second ligament I was talking about ā¦the stylomandibular ligament. Hereās a wider view with the S-H label in red:
Yes, it seems to go to the angle (curve) at the back of the jaw. I guess if the whole styloid comes out then that would have to be removed also since itās attached. Today is fairly okā¦with headache. Incision looking better everyday. It started itching last night so the healing is really coming along. The kids are coming for Easter, so Iām happy about that:) You are getting really close now for your second surgeryš Thatās exciting. I hope the remaining time goes as quickly as possible!
Great pics, redbird! Thank you for educating us further. I agree w/ what SewMomma said, if the whole styloid is removed then it seems that the stylomandibular ligament would go, too. Perhaps in some cases itās just detached from the styloid & left attached to the mandible.
I also recently learned that when the styloid is removed to the skull base, part of the mastoid process is also removed.
Yes, thanks, theyāre really helpfulā¦I think one of the research papers I referenced for the Newbies Guide section mentioned a couple of ligaments but hadnāt seen that on any diagrams. As Sewmomma says, not heard of anyone getting calcification in that one- I wonder if because it looks like from the diagram the stylohyoid runs from the tip of the styloid, so maybe itās easier to calcify?
There is also the question of whether or not an elongated styloid process is actually stylohyoid ligament calcification starting at the styloid end rather than the hyoid end. It would make some sense that the styloid process itself doesnāt elongate, but the s-h ligament calcifies thus giving the appearance of elongation of the styloid process.
I hope you have a wonderful family day today. Easter was definitely one of the milestones I set for myself as I inch along to my second surgery. Iām setting little benchmarks and saying: I can make it to this, I can make it to that. Next one is May 10th, pre op at Emory. Little by little!
Surgery will be here before you know it! I completely empathize w/ you. I went through the same thing before my second surgery. In the couple of weeks prior to surgery I felt like I was counting the hours!
Happy Easter to you all! May it be a day of celebration & great blessing!
