Surgery Update (Dr. Liu)

@MGORNEAU That’s what I was figuring…he doesn’t use nerve monitoring so perhaps he was more cautious based on your first surgery.

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@MGORNEAU said he does monitor the nerves… unusual that he’s not done more thorough post-op notes…

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You mentioned about about Dr Lui making people worse with surgery do you mind letting me know more about that.

DB

@jules Thank you for clarifying that he does monitor nerves.

As for reports, at this point I’ve only received the operative reports, pathology, and photos of the styloids, which I asked for.

I really don’t want to criticize Dr. Osborne’s office because I liked them, and he helped me at a time when no one else I had reached out to would. But after surgery, they were not very forthcoming with with my medical records. It took a long time and quite a few emails and calls to get what I eventually received.

I requested my consult, pre-op, and post-op notes last week, so we’ll see if they come through within the 15 days required under California law. Fingers crossed!

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@Jules @MGORNEAU Sorry for that misread. So perhaps the nerves were chattering and so he backed off. Too bad his notes are vague.

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@Chrickychricky Certainly possible. I guess it just stings a bit when I paid $33,750 out of pocket just for the left side in my desperation for help and still don’t really know why the left side was left longer.

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@Mr.Finer Sorry, I hijacked your thread a bit with my own situation. I didn’t mean to take the focus away from what is important your surgery progress :yellow_heart:

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Hey! So I was referring to dr Kamran Aghayev. I had nothing but a fantastic experience with Dr. Liu. And I have no first person experience with aghayev but some of the experiences I’ve read on here and other forums made me feel that the recovery for him is rough and there are certain members who have had very negative experiences with worsening issues which isn’t the case with Dr. Liu.

Dr. Liu will be honest if you ask him he does not make everyone better- about 5-10% of people do not have any remission of symptoms and he doesn’t have a good understanding as to why yet but he will also truthfully tell you that he has never made anyone worse which I think is a very important metric needing to be weighed before surgery.

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@MGORNEAU Absolutely no need to be sorry that’s what this place is for!!!

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Get well my friend. I Hope your Life goes back to normal. Please keep us posted on your recovery. Is dr Liu locales in New Jersey?

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@Richard123 Thank you Richard! Yes he is in NJ and I will definitely keep updating the group probably every week with how recovery is going :smiling_face_with_sunglasses:

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So I see we’ve experienced the same situation, @MGORNEAU. That’s quite a stump you have left behind. I do agree w/ your suggestion & @Chrickychricky 's that the reason for the longer left resection is because of your body response to the first styloidectomy & possibly because of nerve monitor/facial nerve “chatter” when he got closer to the skull base. I also agree it would have been nice for him to communicate that he’d left that side longer & his reason for doing so.

My surgical notes were also vague, & were nearly identical for each styloidectomy. I had a nerve (glossopharyngeal?) wrapped around my right styloid, & it wasn’t mentioned in the surgery report at all.

I’ve speculated that my left side was left longer because my surgeon saw it was compressing my IJV & didn’t want to “go there” & deal w/ a situation he has blatantly told many patients elongated styloids can’t cause.

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Very Good info Thanks
Do you have a preference between Liu and Constantino?

DB

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I don’t. I never met with Constantino… the wait was too far out for a consultation. The only thing that would sway my opinion is that I’ve seen people talking about the disorganization within the front office of Constantino. This was also my experience multiple calls asking for the same information no one knows who did what like that who’s on first skit. I personally believe the way things run within the entire operation is a reflection of the seriousness and reliability in all aspects even the operating room.

I did not like the run around and having to chase down people to book appointments or get answers after those who said they would follow up never did.

For me Liu was the right choice

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I am so glad for you my friend. I was supposed to be on that table on the same day as you. Unfortunately, i was so sick, i couldn’t even get on the plane to get there and I had to postpone. I am praying for a miracle for you and your family and i am still trying to decide if I can even do the surgery now. I have severe reactions to anesthesia and medications and other neurological issues, so with all of that and a failed styloidectamy already, I just don’t know. The whole truth is I have severe PTSD from all of the failed procedures and drug reactions and just so tired. Again, I know Dr. Liu is the best and I have complete confidence in him and his team. Please keep us updated!

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@harrisonboy I am so sorry to hear that. It’s truly such a disgrace that so many people have to navigate this journey alone. It’s a very scary situation and I know the feeling of the dilemma- do I risk being worse off than I am now or do I continue suffering through a life that is not living. I cannot tell you what the right decision would be but I pray that an answer finds you :folded_hands:

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Isaiah, if a lot of people aren’t seeing full results until 6-12 months does that mean most people wait to decide whether or not to do the second side until that late. I’ve heard a lot of people mention doing both sides close together but it seems hard to make that decision if you don’t really know your full results for up to a year.

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@biggfish02 -

This is a very good question. It used to be more standard for ES surgeries to be done 6 months apart in bilateral cases. That was true in 2014 when I had my first surgery. Over time, that waiting period between surgeries has shrunk to 3 months so 3 months between surgeries seems to be the standard now. I guess the surgeons who do ES surgeries feel that’s sufficient healing time to prepare a patient for round 2.

I had substantial pain from my remaining styloid starting about 2 months after my first styloidectomy. I would have loved to have a second styloidectomy at that point, but my surgeon made me wait. I think in cases like mine where a patient knows the continuing symptoms are from the remaining styloid, a shorter wait isn’t bad, however, if there is a question as to whether symptoms one has are nerves that are still healing from the first styloidectomy vs being caused by a remaining styloid, then waiting longer for a second surgery isn’t a bad idea.

Does that answer your question?

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Wishing you all the best for your surgery coming up real soon. Would love to know how everything goes for you. I’m trying to get an appt with Dr. Lui. Everyone says his office is organized, but I’ve had a hard time connecting and getting reponses. We’ll see. Just praying for direction.

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@TeresaJo When I was there for surgery in August, I heard they had been inundated with requests for Eagle consults/surgeries. He’s also still relatively new to taking on Eagle cases, his first Eagle surgery was only last August so the sudden volume of consult requests seems to have grown faster than the office was prepared for but I also heard they were working on additional staff to help manage this.

I know that doesn’t help much when you’re the one waiting, but I wouldn’t take the lack of response as a sign they’re not interested in seeing you.

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