Hello all! I had surgery on July 6th with Dr. Cognetti. He and Jefferson Medical were truly wonderful! I have a had a few surgeries and have never seen a surgeon in recovery yet Dr. Cognetti checked in on my several times. I came out of surgery feeling some immediate differences in the stick in the back of my throat being gone, being able to turn my head to the left completely and more mobility or feeling of release in my jaw. My recovery has gone very well so far with minimal need for pain meds ( I have been told that I have a high tolerance level for pain). Some swelling around incision and under jaw line but that seems reasonable. Sleeping is difficult still but otherwise ibuprofen and tylenol keeping me comfortable. My neck no longer makes those awful crunching, popping noises when I turn it. I have had NO headache since surgery and this is amazing to me because I have had a daily headache for years and years with only some relief from ibuprofen. My chronic neck pain (in the back and side of neck) is gone too! As for my vascular symptoms: whooshing sounds are gone so far and my dizziness feels improved but not totally gone yet. I am told this can take a while because my brain has been this way for so long. Dr. Cognetti noted that my cervical spine is “very wide” and he finds this a lot with patients that report vascular symptoms. He suspects compression of jugular with head turning due to my spine and elongated styloid colliding? Something like that. We stayed at Franklin Residences which was just a couple of blocks from the hospital. This place was wonderful as well…a 2 bedroom apartment for 5 days at $165/night. Great neighborhood with lots of food options. I will keep you posted re: vascular symptoms.
Morning seiders50
Congratulations, this is fabulous news! How on earth will you manage without all that pain? I am so happy for you in that the surgery seems to have been quite successful and that you have a bright future. Most of what I have read from others is that day 5 or 6 seems to be the worst with the post op swelling and pain - looks like you’ve got it licked!
Thanks for the update. I hope & pray that your recovery continues to go well.
Great news! I hope that you heal really well, & that you continue to see improvements… 
Thank you! I do feel like the dizziness/balance issues are better already but I would expect that it would take some time for all symptoms to get better. Cannot say enough about Dr. Cognetti and this group for helping me to find my way to him!
FANTASTIC! So glad all has gone so well for you!