I am having my surgery on my right side at 1:30 EST. I hope to be home by 8:00 tonight. My plan is to have them shoot me with lidocaine before they close me then I can come home and try to sleep.
I am having the external approach so I hope eating isn't too difficult after a few days. I will post an update tomorrow.
Good luck and my prayers with you...God bless you :)
Good luck! I cant wait to hear how your surgery went. I will be thinking of you and praying. Have a great day!!
Hope that you soon recover- have soups and smoothies if it's painful, soggy cereals etc.! I found it wasn't as bad as I thought, hope that you soon feel the benefit!
God Bless, Jules
Wishing Lidocaine and success for you!
Well I made it. Surgery was scheduled for 1:30 and it actually occurred at 4:00. It only took 40 minutes and we were still home by 8:00. Luckily, they did not put in a drain. I have not taken any pain meds and it is pretty bearable. I guess we’ve all learned to live with pain from this.
It’s been 12 hours and I am having a popsicle. Surprisingly, it does not hurt to chew, only swallow. It’s hard to get comfortable to sleep, sitting up or walking around feels best to me.
The surgeons told my wife that they had never seen anything like it. Apparently, it was very thick, gnarly and misshapen. They said it looked like it had bone spurs on it. They took pictures but I don’t have them yet. They took it out in five pieces all the way to the base of my skull. They are sending it somewhere to be analyzed. Who knows, I might end up being a case study!
Thanks for the prayers and wishes. I’ll keep updating.
Thanks for the update! So glad to hear that you are doing this well so early on! Prayers for continued healing and a quick recovery!
Groot, congratulations! Keep up posted. It sounds good so far! Who was your surgeon?
Oops, nevermind. I found it - Dr. Roger Levin in Harrisburg, PA.
heidemt said:
Who was your surgeon?
Update - I am doing much better than I expected. At 24 hours post surgery I have been eating jello, bananas, crackers and a brownie! Most of the swallowing pain is gone as well.
I was Dr. Levin’s second ES surgery yesterday so he got some practice on the first one. I do have a little numbness on my lower jaw but that should subside.
I just got the pictures a few minutes ago. Really gross. Does not look like any of the ones I've seen. He said it was as thick as a pencil. No wonder I've been so miserable! I'm glad it is out. I just took off my bandage and my incision is a lot longer than I thought it would be as well.
Glad it’s over for you! Do you feel your ES symptoms have subsided?
That styloid is impressive- no wonder you have a big incision to get that out!!
So happy for you and your successful surgery! 
Thanks. Jules said you were to have surgery the same day, but I see yours was postponed. Good luck on Tuesday.
Ivy, I am going to give it some time to determine that. I just feel different right now. My biggest complaint has been constant dizziness. I went to vestibular rehab a few years ago an it helped a little but the PT said if it doesn't go away completely that their was some underlying cause. Since I had never even heard of ES four weeks ago I'm assuming that to be my underlying cause.
I wish you the best of outcome!
looking forward to hearing how well you do.
