Hi guys. I had my surgery this past Thursday. Dr. DelGaudio with Emory did my surgery. He's great! My first two days were pretty rough with swallowing. Other than that I'm good. I didn't get the weakness the Dr said I would on the side where the surgery was performed. Any questions feel free to ask
That is terrific news, SweetC. I am so glad to hear you are doing well after surgery. :)
Thanks!
Glad to hear that you’re doing well!! Did you have internal or external surgery? Also, did you notice symptoms being gone pretty soon?
Thanks
Thanks Lizajane. My surgery was external. I still have the symptoms right now. They reappeared a few days after surgery. They're not as bad but I was told it'll get better once I heal. The problem that I do have that's driving me crazy is the pain I have when laying down. As long as I'm sitting up I'm fine.
I just had my surgery this morning, oral. No problems. Dr. told my wife that he removed the whole thing. Pretty sore back of my upper throat, but tolerable. Looking forward to seeing whether symptoms are relieved, and will post back on this.
Thank you for the update, dtcolbert. I know the COVID-19 thing kind of put a kibosh on your surgery plans. So glad you had your surgery & are heading into recovery. Please do keep us posted as to how your recovery comes along. We’re here to answer questions & give whatever support you need. I’ll be praying for smooth sailing during recovery & relief from your ES symptoms. I always feel compelled to remind our members who recently had surgery that it can take up to a year or more for some nerve issues to heal or diminish.
Sending wishes for a speedy recovery.
Hope all goes smoothly, & you can keep the pain under control! Hope you soon see improvements in your ES symptoms too.
I don’t know if you’ve seen, but BFresh & Weezie have just had intraoral surgery, there’s a current discussion with their post surgery experiences.
Thanks everyone! I’m feeling pretty well today - even went shopping. Because my tonsils did NOT need to be removed, there’s not nearly as much p
ain as if they’d have to have been. Quite tolerable with just ibuprofen. The surgeon too out 3.5 of the 3.8 cm (see attached pic), explaining that it’s best not to get too aggressive, which is when risk raffle goes up. Also, since he had previously sent that my already is relatively narrow (one reason, along with a large tongue, why I have sleep apnea), he told the anesthesiologist to use a narrow tube for my intubation, so no lasting problem with that. Dr Patel is the best!
Please see attached image for my styloid bone. Looks like a fosil!
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Yup! That’s one nasty looking styloid! Very thick at the base. No wonder you were uncomfy!! So glad Dr. Patel was conservative & left your tonsils in place. I wish more surgeons who did the intraoral approach would consider doing that.
How wonderful to hear your doing so well! I hope your recovery is smooth & quick. Please continue to keep us updated. I forgot to ask if ES symptoms affected your voice? If it didn’t you’re very fortunate as this is not uncommon & is the reason some of our vocalist forum members discover they have ES - vocal loss.
I may have mentioned in my introductory post that I am a singer-songwriter. So my voice is a concern. I want really very worried about any resulting issues with my voice until I learned just before surgery that I would be intubated. But with the narrow tube, there seems to be almost no discomfort!
That is great news! You are indeed fortunate.
Really glad that you’re feeling good, & didn’t need tonsils out. I’d read that tonsils are usually removed because they get in the way, maybe it depends on the size of them, or perhaps it’s surgical preference. I hope that at some point you’re able to get back to singing!
My doc said that day 3 would be the worst - when inflammatory response would peak - and he was right! Still manageable, but hurting a fair bit!
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dtcolbert -
Dr. Samji says days 3-5 are the worst. I think I hit my peak on days 4-5 post op. “Gird your loins” & prepare for the next couple of days to be challenging. Keep icing & taking your pain meds. You’ll be on the other side of this before you know it.
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DT, glad u are recovering and on the other side with tonsils intact. You doc giving you steroids for swelling and inflammation?
I was prepared by this blog in advance and followed Isaiah and others advice to ice, ice and ice. Had a wedge pillow along with U-pillow, took my pain killers and breezed by the first week after surgery. On day 3, I was in very little pain overall and very surprised. (I had external) I never got the worsening symptoms on day 3-5 like many others. I know during surgery Dr. Samji gave me injection of steroids. He also gives you RX to take for 10 days after surgery. I think all these things combined made a huge difference for me.
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Day 8: Doing better, finally! Days 4, 5, and 6 were the worst as Isaiah related from Dr. Samji. Wound pain and associated ear pain (my biggest problem prior to surgery) are at least a third better today. No meds since yesterday morning. Hopeful!
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SUPER DUPER!!! Glad to hear today was better. Do remember that post op nerve pain can come & go & come again. It can be discouraging when you think you’re getting better then BAM! the pain is back. Just know this is part of the healing process & will go on for a number of months. You will have a better idea of how things are going by 6-8 mos post op.
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Healing is much like a roller coaster ride. I have days when I almost forget I have eagles, then days like today when it makes my stomach drop. I did notice today that the ringing in my ear is subsiding. For today at least 
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thinking of you… 
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