I will be having surgery soon with Mr Patrick Axon Cambridge. I have been in pain for 2 years and been let down badly by the nhs after working as a nurse for 40 years. I have now decided to pay privately with Mr Axon. I would appreciate any post surgery tips. Also is there anyone who still has symptoms following surgery with Mr Axon? Scared and excited !
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Hi Caz!
I had surgery 5 years ago with Mr Axon, he’s a really good doctor!
There is alot of info on here about what to expect post-surgery which you can read up on- just use the search function & it’ll come up with lots of discussions.
Mr Axon puts a drain in post-op, which helps with swelling & infection, so you’ll be kept in overnight. I found it really hard to sleep with the drain in as it gets in the way, so be prepared to amuse yourself overnight, book etc! He also used a pressure bandage so my head was completely wrapped up which was a surprise! Swallowing, chewing & opening your mouth wide can be uncomfortable to start with, so it’s a good idea to get soft foods/ juices/ smoothies ready. (1st surgery it took about 10 days to be able to eat normally, 2nd surgery I had no problems!) Also even after having the drain, there can still be some swelling, so it’s a good idea to sleep half upright , so a wedge pillow &/or a Vshaped pillow is worth getting. Some people find ice packs are good to help with swelling too, although I didn’t need those.
I only needed pain killers the first night- I don’t know if I was just lucky although Mr Axon said he’s changed his technique over the years, so goes in between muscles rather than having to cut them, so maybe this makes a difference. I just used paracetemol after that, but if you do need stronger painkillers, then it’s best to keep up with them regularly; don’t leave it until you’re in alot of pain or they’ll take a while to work. Also expect some numbness around your jaw/ ear, it does go off after a few weeks, but is quite common as the nerves are stretched sometimes during surgery. (MR Axon uses monitors on the nerves to check they’re not too stressed, I had bruising come out later from the clips!) Don’t expect symptoms to go straight away- it can take nerves months to heal, & also be careful not to over do things afterwards, as this can set healing back! First bite syndrome is quite common after surgery- you can get a sharp pain in the cheek/ ear/ jaw area from the parotid gland when you first start to eat- not everyone gets this though, it eases off over time.
I think this about covers it! But if there’s anything specific you want to ask, feel free! Hope that your surgery goes well; have you got a date?
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Thank you so much Jules lots of advice there for me. I would have panicked if I woke up wrapped in bandages. I didn’t realise he used Clips in the wound. Thanks for the info.
Not clips in the wound, sorry, I meant some sort of clips to monitor the nerves. The wound was dissolvable stitches, I think one stitch to hold the drain in, which was taken out in the morning before going home.
Thanks Jules x