That’s great news!
There’s lots of past discussions about what to expect after surgery, it’s a good idea to read those as they’ll help you prepare mentally. The recovery can be a bit up & down, and usually people don’t experience symptoms disappearing straight away, that throws people sometimes & it’s easy to panic & think that surgery hasn’t been successful.
There’s info in the Newbies Guide Section about surgery, & a link to as surgery shopping list that a member posted, here’s a link:
ES Information- Treatment: Surgery - Welcome / Newbies Guide to Eagle Syndrome - Living with Eagle
Briefly though you’ll need to ice your neck regularly to avoid swelling, & sleeping propped up will help, so buying a wedge pillow is a good idea. Often it’s uncomfortable to chew & hard to open your mouth wide, so getting soft foods and smoothies ready is a good idea. You’ll need to keep up with pain meds regularly, & some of those can cause constipation, so a good idea to get something to counteract that…
Surgical techniques vary; some patients are discharged the same day, some kept in, so can’t say what to bring to hospital will depend on that . If you have much of a journey home afterwards then an ice pack for the journey & a neck pillow would be a good idea. Some doctors put a drain in over night to prevent swelling, others prescribe prednisone, both are helpful so if you don’t get kept in with a drain you could ask for the prednisone?
Surgeons often don’t realise how long the recovery will be, so allow at least a couple of weeks off work, longer if you do a physical job.
Some members have eaten an anti-inflammatory diet beforehand to make sure they’re as well as can be- you can look up foods to eat/ avoid online if you want to do that. B group vitamins are supposed to be good for nerve healing, so you could take those before & after if you want, check with your doctor if you’re on any medication though. And a good idea if you are on any meds to check with the hospital before surgery about whether you can take them or not if they’ve not already said anything, as sometimes this gets forgotten!
I can’t think of anything else atm, but there is more detail in the Surgery info section.
Good idea to get as prepared as possible!
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