I had my surgery on Thursday. Thank God I'm doing pretty good. I've been able to keep my pain under control and have been able to rest plenty. Right now though, If I cough, pain is crazy in my head where the incision is. It feels like I have some loose phlegm in my chest that needs to come up, but I'm so scared to cough and just get it up because of the pain. Does anyone have any suggestions? Also, if I have any kind of dream that causes anxiety within the dream, I wake up with my head throbbing so crazy. Has anyone else experienced this?
I had the same thing with coughing after surgery! My doctor told me not to cough or do any straining. The hospital gave me a device that you suck into to clear your lungs so you don’t have to cough! Sorry, I can’t remember what it is called, but it did help a ton! I also just tried to clear my throat very gently and that helped too!
I haven't had the decompression surgery, but I've had other surgeries where my throat has been irritated from having a breathing tube inserted during surgery. My best advice is not to drink anything "thick" or sticky like milkshakes, which can be hard because I know you probably don't have much of an appetite and that's probably the first thing you want to eat in lieu of meals. But, for me, milkshakes trigger coughing. For me, it was helpful to stick to just water and only clear, soothing sodas like 7-up or Sprite.
Don't know if this will help, but it did in my own experience. Whatever works for you though, go with it. Best of luck to you!