The pre op report showed "dolichoectatic"vertebral arteries on the right and left. It also states that I've got greater risk of side effects due to the large vertebral artery and the need for manipulation.
Key notes from the operation report: "Sectioned the nervus intermedius.A vein running between the 9th and 10th was divided an cauterized at the level of the brainstem. A small artery that was compressing te 9th nerve and the upper fascicle of the 10th was decompressed with teflon pledglets. The vertebral artery was seen compressing the entire 9th and 10th nerve complex at the brainstemj entry and exit zone. This was decompressed with numerous teflon pledglets due to its size." A small arteriole was running along the 5th nerve .was decompressed with teflon pledglets. ...in their closing process.- the dura was closed with running and interrupted 4-0 sutures....a muscle patch was also necessary."
My current condition is somewhat better than prior to surgery - I was in extremely bad shape before surgery - but I'm not doing very well overall.
I have some issues I’d like some opinions / guidance on. I'll be speaking to the surgeon for the first time since 7 days post op next Tuesday.
Here are the main problems:
I still have swelling and a knot behind the ear and around the incision point / headaches, etc.
Inner ear / jaw / temple / cheek pain and pressure. Jaw is constantly being pulled to left side. Jaw pain and pressure. Muscles are very tight. Spasms more severe in morning or when lying down - I hear/ feel the ear fire then the quick shooting spasms in jaw or throat - or when talking a lot. Spasms are somewhat less severe as prior to surgery but not much.
Ear feels full , painful, pops.
Temple area is a hot spot of pain, pressure and periodic popping.
When I relax the jaw and move it to the right (to try to stretch) I feel the pain run through the left temple , cheek, and ear.
Sever tinnitus – high pitched ringing and hissing 24/7.
Some shooting pain in neck , tingling, pins and needles in left side of face, stabs in left of eye around eye, etc.
Tongue is somewhat better but hurts to talk a lot . Seems like jaw/ear may play a role in tongue issues? When I'm able to relax the jaw - which is hard to do - the tongue seems to relax.
Could some of the issues be the trigeminal nerve ganglia…or a Eustachian tube problem? Could it be the mandibular branch ? Or glosso nerve / stylopharyngeal muscle ?
I would talk it over with surgeon but some of it might be due to the severity of your compression's It took a long time for the fullness in my ear to go away Longer than 7 weeks They say it is due to the swelling and fluid build from surgery and should go away in time Mine got gradually better every week I hope yours does so also It takes time for the nerves to heal
where they go in to the skull is right next to the inner ear, so with the amount of work they had to do, it does not sound too far out to have all those symptoms.
everyone is different in the recovery, so just hang in there and see what the doctor says. my doctor told me i would be back to work in ten days, i think he was close, but i had complications that extended it.
reading how it went for other people gives you an idea of what to expect, not any hard fast rules of how it will go. i never did feel tired exactly, but lots of people say they get exhausted easy at first. take it really easy, like easier than you think you are...just let your body recover at it's own pace. not only did you just go through surgery and had you brain pushed around, you went through all the bs pain and meds for how ever long before that point! take care and i will pray you have a full recovery ;-]
I also had and still have some of these symptoms intermittently. It does get better with time. Some issues would increase in severity like muscle spasms and then subside. Everything is so traumatized inside. The site here on MVDs gives a lot of insight to different recoveries. No one story is the same, but you will find common threads. Wishing you a speedy recovery. Time is the great healer.
Thank you all for your comments. I’m slowly getting better it seems. Dealing with cervical issues and some bruxism / TMJD issues which seems to include the branches of the TN - I may have an impingement. I appreciate all your comment. Definitely glad I had it know just trying to get over into the semi normal range again! God Bless Eddie
It may take time it sounds like you had some pretty severe issues the fullness in ear and ringing in ear took longer then the 7 weeks to go away I know I had a lot of muscle and neck pain because of the way they manipulate you during surgery It did go away after awhile
I hope things get better for you My surgery was in February God Bless