Shortness of breath can be caused from vocal cord paralysis. Here is a description found on the internet:
Vocal fold paralysis (also known as vocal cord paralysis) is a voice disorder that occurs when one or both of the vocal folds don't open or close properly.
nidcd.nih.gov
Signs and symptoms of vocal cord paralysis may include:
1. A breathy quality to the voice
2. Hoarseness
3. Noisy breathing
4. Loss of vocal pitch
5. Choking or coughing while swallowing food, drink or saliva
6. The need to take frequent breaths while speaking
7. Inability to speak loudly
8. Loss of your gag reflex
9. Ineffective coughing
10. Frequent throat clearing
I have had radiation for throat cancer, and Covid twice. One or both caused my vocal cords to become bilaterally paralyzed. A person can still talk, eat and drink with vocal cord paralysis (VCP). I say all this because before having a tracheotomy, my shortness of breath was very bad. Just bending down to pick a dandelion would cause me to gasp for air. Yawning was the only way to get a full, deep breath. Because my tissues have been radiated, conventional treatments such as operating for VCP are not an option, as it could cause the area to literally rot. If you have an ENT perform a Nasal Endoscopy (virtually painless office procedure), you can rule out this condition as a cause for your problems. There are many options available to people with this problem if they have not received radiation. By the way, covid can cause VCP. I wish you all well, and hope you find out what is causing the problem.

Have your spine checked; could be those bulging discs? Keep us posted please.

Yes @finn22, do keep us updated. I have not had any surgery myself but it sounds like your surgery may have developed complications and side effects. Do you know if the issues you describe are related to each other?

I developed the same issue after going on a walk on a windy day. Sat down on couch and started loud barking coughs. Dozens of MRIs and gastro visits and blood tests. One blood test came back with lupus marker. RA said it was not that. My cough went away and now I have sorta like a guffaw cough, loud seal bark only once and random once a week maybe. I have terrible achy finger joints, worse in morning. The gastro saw a patch of something in my esophagus and tested me for Barrett’s esophagus. Negative on that. I did have a dentist visit that they accidentally sprayed a bleach combo cleaning solution in my mouth. I was first patient of the day. Maybe from that. I went to see an OMT at the recommendation of my primary. She was trying to move a rib in the front and get a “knot” out of my left shoulder blade. That was a year ago and I have severe pain in my shoulder blade and chest now. The shoulder blade pain keeps me up at night sometimes. Tremendous aching through to my chest. My sob is just like everyone here says. Can’t get it to release and yawning absolutely releases it. Just posting what is going on with me in hopes to piece this together for all of us. FYI i had two Drs. And a specialist write Mayo AZ to get me in. I called weekly for a year said they never received anything. My Drs. faxed them dozens of times. My primary was at a loss. Now we moved to another state and are working on getting insurance.