Surgery or not-Part 2

lfranek · Post by **lfranek** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:00 pm

Ok, so I saw the ENT today-the nurse as well as the doc were very surprised that I had apnea because I didnt fit the mold.....female, thin, non snorer....he said typically in those cases the cause is anatomy related.....which he said I have a large uvula that hangs down very low......everything else looked normal....he suggested the UPPP-I asked what is the success rate and he said for someone like you that has a moderate case and non-sterotypical, about 75-80% and my chances of getting off CPAP would be really good.....so now I am pondering....do I really want to have this machine and hose and mask...for the next say 50-60 yrs???? Besides that, I have been on it for 6 weeks now and havent seen a bill yet so I havent paid one cent for the whole set-up......I guess I need to try and find someone that didnt "fit the mold" that had surgery and see what their success rate was...........any suggestions?
Thanks
Larissa

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Mon Oct 23, 2006 6:09 pm

lfranek wrote:he suggested the UPPP-I asked what is the success rate and he said for someone like you that has a moderate case and non-sterotypical, about 75-80% and my chances of getting off CPAP would be really good

Ask to see the documentation proving the 75-80% figure he quoted you. Ask how many UPPP surgeries he has performed. Ask to speak with the patients who had the surgery and had successful results and got off CPAP. Ask how long and how often their followup PSGs (if they had them) took place after surgery. Demand answers.

sweetdreamer · Post by **sweetdreamer** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 8:55 pm

I had the surgery 7 years ago hoping to prevent a lifetime of the machine. It was horribly painful and helped for a few months after the swelling went away. I am now back on cpap and it has been much more difficult to get proper balance since my anatomy has been altered. Remember that you can't undo this surgery and you might complicate your treatment further down the road. If I had it to do all over again, I would NEVER EVER go through the surgery.

Snoredog · Post by **Snoredog** » Tue Oct 24, 2006 9:39 pm

forget the UPPP, it does NOT stop or prevent your tongue from falling into the back of the throat. Same for the Uvula, trimming it does nothing.

Check out the Genioglossus Tongue Advancement procedure or GGA. It was developed at Stanford.

http://www.sleepsurgery.com/genionglossus.html

And, I'd find another ENT otherwise, they would have told you that a UPPP would probably not be successful for OSA.

It is easier for guys to talk to an ENT and bring up subject of cars where you then learn they have a Mercedes and are wanting a Carrera S (in which they pick up after your UPPP surgery).

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 4:55 pm

From reading up a good bit on the UPPP procedure it appears that it has a rather low success rate for long-term curing of OSA.

Many ENTs promote this as a potential option simply because it is what they know, obviously. It is something that falls within the realm of thier speciality and they are comfortable with the ins and outs of the procedure.

However, it does seem that for the long-term many of the patients who have undergone this procedure have ended up back on CPAP. Certainly not all and even with the low success rate you may find it worthwhile to at least look through.

It sounds like if anyone would suceed on it, you might due to already being a bit of a extreme!

Good luck and regardless of which road you go down please report back on how things go!

bsil · Post by **bsil** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 7:26 pm

I too consulted with an ENT prior to my titration study. Unlike you, I do fit the mold ( overweight, thick neck...). He was quite honest and told me that only 50% are truely cured by the surgery...and he thought that % was generous.

My friend had the surgery...he's male and thin. He says that he's too claustrophobic to tolerate cpap, so he underwent the surgery.
His wife says that he still snores!

wreckless123 · Post by **wreckless123** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 7:34 pm

I am a sucess of the UPPP and am happy I did it. I wont lie, it was one of the most painfull things I have ever done for the first week, but after that it is down hill. I had a similar situation with the uvula but also had my tonsils. They did both at the same time last October. All is well now, I am done with my hose for good..

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Oct 25, 2006 8:44 pm

wreckless123 wrote:They did both at the same time last October. All is well now, I am done with my hose for good..

Congratulations! How do you know all is well now and you're done with cpap for good?

pcisuser · Post by **pcisuser** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:38 am

A while back, probably close to a year now, I watched an evening news and they were interviewing some doctor in Santa Monica (California) about a similar but MUCH MUCH instrusive procedure.

If I recall properly, the doctor said they will IMPLANT some polyester (or may other type of material???) into the palate. Instead of having the surgery with the intention to stiff up the palate (spelled correctly??) the implanted tube-like material will provide a stiff structural pulll to prevent it from relaxing and blocking the airway.

Because the implant is less instrusive, it's much less painful. Because there is no scare tissue to be produced to stiff up the palate, the successful rate is very high......

Something like that. I have been trying to search online about this new procedure but can't find anything. Has anyone heard or learned about this new medical procedure? If you do, please help share what you know or point us to the proper info site. I thought that procedure makes a lot more sense but couldn't jog down the doctor phone number (very fast because it's part of a normal night time news and not a TV ad).

I have not heard of anyone mentioning about this procedure here. So it must be something either too new or just overblown....

Anyways, hope to hear from the experts here about this implant procedure.

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:42 am

pcisuser wrote:Anyways, hope to hear from the experts here about this implant procedure.

Its called the Pillar Procedure. Use the search function and you'll find many previous posts on this subject.

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 1:45 am

Clickable LINKS to surgery, turbinates, Pillar, TAP experiences

josh · Post by **josh** » Thu Oct 26, 2006 5:52 am

Hi lfanek,

I definately do not "fit the mold", I am male...but that's about it. I am way under 40, and underweight...and yes I had the UPPP with deviated septum. I was too naive to ask what the success rate was...I found out after I had the surgery done it was about 50%. The problem is, the UPPP is the first step to any other treatments...it seems as though the docs want to strip everything out in there for fun.

In fact, my AHI before surgery as 37, after it was 56...who would have guessed? And now I need cpap more than ever...

So now I am a candidate for the MMA surgery which I plan to go through with in the next few months or so. It turns out it looks as though I just have an extremely narrow airway entering my lungs, which a 360 degree x-ray detected...lol.

I wish you good luck in whatever desicion you decide.

Surgery or not-Part 2

Surgery or not-Part 2

Re: Surgery or not-Part 2

FORGET THE SURGERY!!!