Dale, I'm not sure what I want to happen. The story can't be changed back now. So what use complaining? My inexperience in these matters troubles me. Since then my time has been taken up with other editors, other stories. Perhaps I'm trying not to think about it. I mean, nobody died, right?
Take care not to discount your important needs here.
Given that you have an ongoing relationship with this editor, I'd guess that your relationship with the editor is important to you. And part of that is understanding each other's roles clearly, and also being able to renegotiate roles as you learn from your experience with each other.
You've learned, for example, that the editor sometimes makes edits without your permission. You hadn't expected that, and it's important to you. Given that it's
your name attached to the published words, you have a legitimate, significant interest in making sure that the words represent you.
If I were in that situation, I would want to renegotiate how we decide exactly which words are published. I might want the editor's commitment to give me absolute final say about what words are published, but that's unlikely given that the publisher also has a legitimate interest in choosing the words.
I would definitely want the editor's commitment to submit edits to me for review before publishing. The editor may not be willing to give that, but it's okay to want it, and it's okay to ask for it.
At the very least, I would want some clarity about the circumstances under which the editor will make changes without offering me an opportunity to review, and what kinds of changes the editor will make without my review. It may not be possible to specify those things precisely, but I would surely want a conversation in which we at least try to describe them.
Your needs may differ from mine. Whatever your needs, I encourage you not to discount them. The challenge is to clarify what you need for yourself and what you want from the editor. And once you've clarified those things, ask for what you want.
Dale