About to go for Sleep Apnea Surgery

[newcpap]

Hello everyone,

I had went for Septoplasty back in August to fix my deviated nasal septum. The recovery wasn't as awful as I saw other people report on the Internet. Although, I can breathe better from my nose now, I still can't tolerate the nasal pillow yet. I am using FFM, but trying keeping my mouth shut through the night!


My surgeon did a sedative endoscopy and suggested a second surgery to fix my upper airway obstruction. Combined with some weight loss, the hope is get off the mask for good.

The surgery I am planning to do is NOT the old UPPP. Rather, it includes:

1. Removing my tonsils
2. Removing my redundant posterior pillars
3. Trimming my uvula (no removal, just trimming)
4. Apply radio frequency to the soft palate and tongue base.

My BMI is 37 and I know that I need to work on my weight; however, I thought to ask anyone who had the same surgery:

1. What was the recovery like, pain level, duration, etc
2. How much difference was there in terms of AHI


Thanks.

[archangle]

Be really careful. It sounds a bit like he may be selling you the same old snake oil with a different name.

[Nozzelnut]

I had a modified UPPP back in May. Tonsils removed, uvula removed, and trimmed up the soft palate. This was to remove the chronically infected tonsils. My uvula was touching my tongue and the tissues were stretched out from being inflamed and swollen for years.

Pain was a 9/10 in the recovery room. 7-8/10 pain lasted about 2.5 weeks. (The drugs did help some.) It started to decline after that. I struggled to get 500 calories a day down and even swallowing water was painful. It was the most painful experience of my life.

I read some experiences on here and other places and knew going into it that the surgery probably wouldn't have any real effect on my OSA, but it did give me some more room and got rid of the chronic infections. My AHI now and before the surgery are about the same, but my peak pressures are down about 2-3cm/h2o; on average.

[49er]

Hi newcap,

If your goal is to get off the mask for good, the odds of that happening through surgery are not that great. Now if you are doing it because after a year, you still have great difficulties with optimizing pap therapy, then that is another issue. In this case, I would focus on losing the weight and if surgery is needed, to get your tonsils out to see what type of improvement you can get.

If you do decide to have any type of surgery, ask the surgeon to give you statistics on what his records show regarding people getting their AHIs below 5 and how long they stay in that situation. Many of them consider a success rate of a reduction of 50% a success story which in the case of something like severe apnea would not cut it.

Of course, if you have tried everything and it comes down to surgery, that is one thing. But I am not sensing that in your case so if I am wrong, please correct me.

49er

Hello everyone,

I had went for Septoplasty back in August to fix my deviated nasal septum. The recovery wasn't as awful as I saw other people report on the Internet. Although, I can breathe better from my nose now, I still can't tolerate the nasal pillow yet. I am using FFM, but trying keeping my mouth shut through the night!


My surgeon did a sedative endoscopy and suggested a second surgery to fix my upper airway obstruction. Combined with some weight loss, the hope is get off the mask for good.

The surgery I am planning to do is NOT the old UPPP. Rather, it includes:

1. Removing my tonsils
2. Removing my redundant posterior pillars
3. Trimming my uvula (no removal, just trimming)
4. Apply radio frequency to the soft palate and tongue base.

My BMI is 37 and I know that I need to work on my weight; however, I thought to ask anyone who had the same surgery:

1. What was the recovery like, pain level, duration, etc
2. How much difference was there in terms of AHI


Thanks.

[newcpap]

The surgery I am planning to do is not as invasive as what Nozzelnut did. The surgeon won't remove my uvula (just trimming), and he will apply radio frequency to my soft-palate (no cutting).
I am planning to have the surgery done in the UK with surgeon who is also sleep specialist. When I saw him the first time, he performed sedative endoscopy and confirmed that 75% of the obstruction is due to my tonsils and soft palate. According to him, with weight loss, the chances of curing my OSA will be around 80%.

I was able to tolerate CPAP so far, but when I did the Septoplasty back in August with the same surgeon, he encouraged me to go ahead with the second surgery as it is more conservative than the traditional UPPP, but he mentioned the weight loss component which is something I still have to work on.

The reason I feel encouraged going for the surgery is that I have enlarged tonsils and lax soft-palate. This has been confirmed by three different ENT surgeons and I am hoping that the surgery will get me off the mask.


newcpap

[49er]

The surgery I am planning to do is not as invasive as what Nozzelnut did. The surgeon won't remove my uvula (just trimming), and he will apply radio frequency to my soft-palate (no cutting).
I am planning to have the surgery done in the UK with surgeon who is also sleep specialist. When I saw him the first time, he performed sedative endoscopy and confirmed that 75% of the obstruction is due to my tonsils and soft palate. According to him, with weight loss, the chances of curing my OSA will be around 80%.

I was able to tolerate CPAP so far, but when I did the Septoplasty back in August with the same surgeon, he encouraged me to go ahead with the second surgery as it is more conservative than the traditional UPPP, but he mentioned the weight loss component which is something I still have to work on.

The reason I feel encouraged going for the surgery is that I have enlarged tonsils and lax soft-palate. This has been confirmed by three different ENT surgeons and I am hoping that the surgery will get me off the mask.


newcpap

newcap,

I understand what you are saying but while hoping to get off of the mask is understandable, you need hard statistics on what the chances of that happening, particularly if you are currently tolerating cpap therapy. I am definitely not anti surgery but when stakes are high and this isn't your last option, you need to really make sure you have all the necessary information such as what the "true" success rates are.

I also agree with Archangle that this surgeon seems a little cut happy and that is not something I will normally say about a doctor. But he seems to be wanting to do it way too quickly in my opinion. Just a gut feeling.

49er

[Julie]

And the chances losing 'some' weight (vs radical loss of 100 lbs or lap band surg) are not terrific either... most people regain at least some of the loss within a few mos., and maybe more-than-less don't post a better sleep study afterward even if they keep weight off.

[Nozzelnut]

Just to clear things up a little; I think the tonsil removal (part of the surgery) and recovery caused the most pain. Imagine gargling burning charcoal and recovering from that... (My tonsils were huge too.)

[NateS]

Hi newcap,

… ask the surgeon to give you statistics on what his records show regarding people getting their AHIs below 5 and how long they stay in that situation.

And be very specific that you want your own surgeon's numbers on his/her surgery results!

"Percentages" are too easy to fudge - you should want the actual numbers of such surgeries he/she has performed and the outcomes by specific categories.

And if you are not specific about wanting his/her own numbers and results, most surgeons will instead quote the published numbers of the most skilled surgeon performing the technique - usually the one who invented the technique and/or wrote it up in the journals! Watch carefully how he/she phrases their reply.

Regards, Nate

[chunkyfrog]

My dentist had his uvula removed. Now he cannot talk or laugh while eating, due to food going up his nose.

[Julie]