Well......the "end" or "beginning" is near!
I fly out tomorrow morning to San Jose, with my wife, in preparation for my 10:30 am surgery on Monday with Dr. Samji.
The game plan is for surgery on Monday, chill in San Jose for 1 week, then see Dr. Samji in clinic for my post-op visit on Friday a.m. Assuming I am good enough to fly back, we hop on the plane and come back to Spokane on Friday.
Once again........I am the oddball with Eagles......even amongst us "oddballs" ha :o)
I do not have the typical face pain and/or trouble swallowing that everyone else does, even though it has been measured at ~ 50mm. (Must be curved/shaped differently???)
My symptoms are all neuro related........foggy, disequilbrium, light head, see stars when I move my head too fast, horrible, horrible ear dysfunction issues.........just plain "blah".
So......my remaining question for people in my situation:
How soon after surgery will a patient know whether or not this has fixed ? I know there is considerable swelling going on, so I imagine it takes some time? What would I notice first? Anything else to be thinking about prior to surgery?
Thanks and Fingers Crossed by Everyone!!!! :o)
todd
Good luck Go Cougs!
You sound super prepared for your upcoming surgery. I sincerely wish the absolute best outcome for you after all you have been through. It is a brave thing to do to follow your gut feelings. Like you, I saw the physical thing on the scan and I had to deduce that this was the probable cause of my torture. Granted, I still have lingering pains post-op, but was told that it takes months for the nerves to heal. I am sure you have a pre-op appointment with your surgeon. Ask him about the healing time of prior patients. Of course, each person has a different healing time depending on what the surgeon has to do. Sometimes they don't know what they are going to do until they are in there and see the real thing. If they give you enough happy drugs after surgery you probably won't feel anything for hours. I am sure they will give you pain killers but discuss all the type of medicines to be given to you after the surgery including antibiotics(if any) and the possible side effects. I did have a terrible experience with the antibiotic they gave me even after I took precautions taking it. You will look like you have the mumps with the swelling and need to take care and sleep with a pillow elevating your head for a week or so. Have a hand ice bag ready to put on your jaw because it does help with swelling. You may also cough up blood and gunk, so don't worry about that. Don't laugh, try not to sneeze or cough too much because it will hurt. I am sure you know about the soft food diet for two weeks post-op. Again, good luck and God bless you and your family and keep you safe for them. Keep us updated! Ok.
Todd,
I noticed improvement on most things right away. its so hard to say with all the varied symptoms we have. but i could tell improvement fairly soon.
Hey, good luck!