I had my surgery yesterday and everything went well. Although I am in a lot of pain the meds are helping tremendously. I had a transoral styloidectomy on my left side. My surgeon was able to get the styloid down to about 1cm (under the normal average size of what a styloid should be).
I can finally turn my head to the left! I have not been able to do that in a long time. I have also had the best sleep I’ve had in over 4-5 months. That also seems to help the way I am feeling.
I’m constantly drinking liquids. I am going to stick to liquids for a few days. I can talk but it does bother me. Swallowing hurts the most and I have a hard time opening my mouth so I don’t feel I am ready for any kind of food.
I am just hoping and praying that I continue to get better and better each day.
Thank you for all of the well wishes and support! I truly appreciate it all!
Krista, so glad you posted. I was thinking of you. Keep us updated as you are able. I am glad your surgery has made a difference already!!!! So excited for you!!
Tamora, thank you so much! I meant to post yesterday but was a little out of it. I will continue to update as I can. Thank you for thinking of me =)
shoppergirl said:
Krista, so glad you posted. I was thinking of you. Keep us updated as you are able. I am glad your surgery has made a difference already!!!! So excited for you!!
I'm so happy to see your post. Yay - surgery is over and now you just have to heal. That's great that you can already sleep better. Best wishes on your recovery!
Krista - It sounds like you've got a good plan for eating. Give yourself 2 weeks to mend before jumping into your regular routine. Take your pain meds on schedule for the first week (don't try to cut back early...I did w/ BAD results i.e. debilitating pain which I didn't have when taking them as prescribed). You won't feel a lot of improvement during the first week but by the second week you will begin to see positive changes. As someone else on this site noted: ES surgery is major surgery. Give yourself permission to rest & listen to your body.
I am scheduled to have my surgery Monday morning. How long were you in surgery? I am scheduled to be there at 11:30. I thought that was kind of late to check in for surgery. Also, did you have your tonsils removed? My dr. is telling me that he is not going to remove my tonsils.
Thanks Heide! I am doing okay. Just keep waking up with horrible headaches and neck pain. The pain meds are helping though. Other than that I’m doing fairly well. Did you have bad headaches and neck pain?
heidemt said:
Hi Krista,
I’m so happy to see your post. Yay - surgery is over and now you just have to heal. That’s great that you can already sleep better. Best wishes on your recovery!
Thank you Isaiah. Yes I am staying on top of my pain meds and sticking to liquids until my post op appointment on Tuesday. I have been waking up with severe headaches and neck pain. I take the pain medication and then it seems to help. Thank you for the advice!
Isaiah 40:31 said:
Krista - It sounds like you’ve got a good plan for eating. Give yourself 2 weeks to mend before jumping into your regular routine. Take your pain meds on schedule for the first week (don’t try to cut back early…I did w/ BAD results i.e. debilitating pain which I didn’t have when taking them as prescribed). You won’t feel a lot of improvement during the first week but by the second week you will begin to see positive changes. As someone else on this site noted: ES surgery is major surgery. Give yourself permission to rest & listen to your body.
Hi Exployergirl2002,
My surgery was scheduled for 8:30am and I was in surgery for about 2 hours. I had my tonsils taken out back in 2011 so no tonsillectomy was needed. Are you having external surgery or intraoral? I thought that with intraoral surgery they have to remove the tonsils in order to get to the styloid. Best of luck with your surgery!! Keep us updated.
exployergirl2002 said:
I am scheduled to have my surgery Monday morning. How long were you in surgery? I am scheduled to be there at 11:30. I thought that was kind of late to check in for surgery. Also, did you have your tonsils removed? My dr. is telling me that he is not going to remove my tonsils.
My dr. says he is going to try and go intraoral and not going to remove my tonsils. I am kind of nervous about him saying this because I haven't heard of anyone else saying anything about their dr. trying this. I am having my doubts now. Ugh. Thanks for your help!!!
I had headaches & neckpain, too. Also the back of my skull where the styloid sits ached from time to time. I've been doing a lot better, but am not having a good day today. My jaw is sore on the surgical side. I've slept on one pillow for the last 2 nights instead of having my head more elevated. Woke up yesterday & today w/ a headache & a little more swelling in my throat. Not sure if the head elevation is the issue or not. If you're not sleeping w/ your head, neck & shoulders elevated, try that as well. My doctor said I needed to have my head elevated above 30 degrees for the first 10 days. I found that it needed to be longer than that for me.
Tues. is coming fast! Here's to a GREAT post op check up!!
Isaiah 40:31
krista3 said:
Thank you Isaiah. Yes I am staying on top of my pain meds and sticking to liquids until my post op appointment on Tuesday. I have been waking up with severe headaches and neck pain. I take the pain medication and then it seems to help. Thank you for the advice!
Isaiah 40:31 said:
Krista - It sounds like you've got a good plan for eating. Give yourself 2 weeks to mend before jumping into your regular routine. Take your pain meds on schedule for the first week (don't try to cut back early...I did w/ BAD results i.e. debilitating pain which I didn't have when taking them as prescribed). You won't feel a lot of improvement during the first week but by the second week you will begin to see positive changes. As someone else on this site noted: ES surgery is major surgery. Give yourself permission to rest & listen to your body.
Isaiah,
I’m sorry you are not having a good day. I too have been keeping my head elevated. I think it definitely helps. I’m used to sleeping on one pillow though so I’m sure it will take some adjusting for my neck.
I hope you feel better soon!
Thank you I hope all goes well at the appointment!
Isaiah 40:31 said:
I had headaches & neckpain, too. Also the back of my skull where the styloid sits ached from time to time. I've been doing a lot better, but am not having a good day today. My jaw is sore on the surgical side. I've slept on one pillow for the last 2 nights instead of having my head more elevated. Woke up yesterday & today w/ a headache & a little more swelling in my throat. Not sure if the head elevation is the issue or not. If you're not sleeping w/ your head, neck & shoulders elevated, try that as well. My doctor said I needed to have my head elevated above 30 degrees for the first 10 days. I found that it needed to be longer than that for me.
Tues. is coming fast! Here's to a GREAT post op check up!!
Isaiah 40:31
krista3 said:
Thank you Isaiah. Yes I am staying on top of my pain meds and sticking to liquids until my post op appointment on Tuesday. I have been waking up with severe headaches and neck pain. I take the pain medication and then it seems to help. Thank you for the advice!
Isaiah 40:31 said:
Krista - It sounds like you've got a good plan for eating. Give yourself 2 weeks to mend before jumping into your regular routine. Take your pain meds on schedule for the first week (don't try to cut back early...I did w/ BAD results i.e. debilitating pain which I didn't have when taking them as prescribed). You won't feel a lot of improvement during the first week but by the second week you will begin to see positive changes. As someone else on this site noted: ES surgery is major surgery. Give yourself permission to rest & listen to your body.
I wasn't very clear in my last note to you. I am hoping you'll have a great post-op check-up on Tues. I had mine a couple of weeks ago & basically learned it's a bit of a slow recovery from this surgery. I think part of my problem is that my body feels good & wants to be very active but my surgical area isn't ready. I'm just too impatient for total recovery! I'm probablly prologing the process by pushing myself. SIGH...
