tonsillectomy and uvpp surgery on Wednesday.

Sleeping With The Enemy · Post by **Sleeping With The Enemy** » Wed Mar 01, 2006 5:51 pm

I would strongly encourage you to get the chloreseptic spray and spray on the back of your throat and then your medicine will go down better.....

Barb (Seattle) · Post by **Barb (Seattle)** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 12:44 am

So sorry you are experiencing so much pain I think if you took it then immediately swallowed something very cold, it would be bearable for you maybe? I was going to say too, about the snoring...I've definitely stopped snoring with my UP3...but, I still have severe apnea, so someone can be fooled if they think if they aren't snoring, they don't have apnea any more.

Hope you find a solution soon...

rested gal · Post by **rested gal** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 11:36 am

Barb (Seattle) wrote:I was going to say too, about the snoring...I've definitely stopped snoring with my UP3...but, I still have severe apnea, so someone can be fooled if they think if they aren't snoring, they don't have apnea any more.

Thank you for saying that, Barb. It can't be said too many times...anyone who has a UPPP done should definitely have at least one (preferably more!) followup PSG sleep studies, one year out and then again farther into the future. Masking a symptom certainly can fool people into thinking they no longer need cpap, when they do.

I'm always so sorry every time I hear of someone having a UPPP. That particular procedure rarely cures Obstructive Sleep Apnea. It amazes me that ENT's still do it at all, given how little it accomplishes long term.

Even those who go into UPPP realizing it might only lessen their AHI, and are hoping at best to just be able to use less pressure with CPAP, are often disappointed after a year or more. The pain vs gain is not very promising at all from what I've read.

UPPP Ohio Sleep Medicine Institue 10% success rate?

Jul 03 2005 subject: Mayo Clinic - Interesting article

Upper Airway Surgery Does Not Have a Major Role in the Treatment of Obstructive Sleep Apnea by Barbara Phillips MD

LINKS to surgery, turbinates, Pillar, TAP experiences Discussion topics about UPPP are on bottom third of page.

I apologize for injecting such a negative tone into a thread where people are sharing good advice for dealing with UPPP recovery. But there are many readers who may be desperately wanting to get off CPAP or not start CPAP. They need to know the downside before an ENT encourages them to go the UPPP route.

There are better ways, imho, such as trying a dental device like the TAP II combined with Pillar Procedure to address the palate issues. Or a surgery that is drastic but offers a better than 90% true cure...MMA + GA...the surgery Swordz is trying to get.

Sleeping With The Enemy · Post by **Sleeping With The Enemy** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:00 pm

There are other reasons that people have this surgery done.

I had mine done because on recurrent tonsillitis and uvulitis. I could no longer continue taking antibiotics every month.

ljmcd · Post by **ljmcd** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 1:40 pm

Feel fabulous today. Swelling is down, pain is minimal. Only one dose of Hycet since midnight last night. Not bad. Got dressed in skinny clothes, that is the upside!! The Hycet with the cherry flavoring was a good idea. It took some of the zing out and enabled it to go down easier. My snoring has stopped through the nose, and the swelling in my throat is much less, so I guess that opened up the nasal passages as well, like someone had suggested in a previous post. Drank regular iced tea today and it was yummy. I am going to try to make a baked yam and see if I can eat that. All in all, there is a 100% turnaround from how I felt yesterday. I have my followup with the ENT tomorrow and we will see what her thoughts are. We will discuss having a followup sleep study and some point in the future. Since my problem was more of an obstructive sleep disorder than an apnea, we will see what she says. Obviously once she removed the uvula that was the size of my pinkie and the removal of the tonsils, there has got to be more room.

Barb (Seattle) · Post by **Barb (Seattle)** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 2:03 pm

Your first post did say though that you hoped to be rid of CPAP, and I'm just not sure that would happen, but there is definitely more room after all that is taken out Glad you're feeling better...

SLEEPYCD · Post by **SLEEPYCD** » Thu Mar 02, 2006 3:50 pm

ljmcd,
Good News!!!! Glad to hear you are having a good day!!!!! You are on the road to recovery!!!! It sure is nice to get into those "skinny clothes", isn't it?? Good Luck with your ENT visit tomorrow. Keep us posted!!!!!
Carolyn

ljmcd · Post by **ljmcd** » Sat Mar 04, 2006 12:51 pm

Followup with the ENT went well. She said I had blown a few stitches and that my be some of the discomfort because of the raw edges. However, my recovery is going well. She said she expects her patients to be on pain drugs for 3 weeks, so she wrote me another script for the Hycet. Can take the Hycet in a gulp now, so it works much better as opposed to being taken sip by sip over an hour. I took it at 5:00 this morning because I sleep with my mouth open and dry out my throat. I am a little pained right now because I have been talking alot this morning. I am going to take another dose at 1:00 and then try to eat something. I ate a baked potato from Wendy's yesterday after the dr. visit. Ate a little scrambled eggs this morning, but I think it was still too scratchy. Still taking the Amoxicillin and am almost through that. So far so good.

SLEEPYCD · Post by **SLEEPYCD** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 2:38 pm

ljmcd,
GOOD NEWS!!!! HANG IN THERE, THE TOUGH PART IS ALMOST OVER!!!! THOSE NASTY STITCHES SURE CAN BE A PAIN, CAN'T THEY? JUST BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU TAKE YOUR FIRST BIG GULP OF LIQUID, IT MAY COME OUT YOUR NOSE!!!! I HOPE THE SURGERY HELPS WITH YOUR APNEA, KEEP IN TOUCH.
Carolyn

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:04 pm

i had my tonsils out when i was 23, which was 30 years ago. seriously, it was the most painful experience of my life. had it done because i kept getting too many strep infections. recovery was 3 weeks, flat on my back. lost 10-15 pounds (i weighed about 115 going in.) don't remember eating anything for first two weeks except occasional milkshakes and small chips of ice sucked slowly. 3rd week, i could eat small amounts of soft, solid food, like maybe real ice cream. i remember my dad made me veal scallopine and noodles and i was screaming because it hurt to eat it. bad thing was, after that i adjusted to food quickly, and just as quickly, gained all the weight back.

unless things have changed, best thing you can do is get narcotics and hope to sleep through as much of the recovery as possible. sorry i can't be more encouraging. but better you should know it can be real painful, and if it's not, that's terrific.

chdurie2 · Post by **chdurie2** » Sun Mar 05, 2006 4:08 pm

actually, the last one was from me, chdurie2, if anyone cares. this forum does not automatically log me in, as i ask it to.

ljmcd · Post by **ljmcd** » Tue Mar 07, 2006 11:24 pm

Can you believe, no pain meds for 2 days now!! I would say the tonsils are but a mild discomfort. Ate fried rice, which probably wasn't the best thing. Felt like it got stuck in my throat. Have no energy level though and that is annoying since I am generally pretty active. Husband says that I sleep nice and quiet now. Good thing, too since I am taking 2-3 hour naps during the day. Hopefully the energy will come back soon. All in all, the surgery was not bad at all. I am going to slowly introduce soft/solid foods and hopefully I will get some energy.

SLEEPYCD · Post by **SLEEPYCD** » Wed Mar 08, 2006 9:50 am

ljmcd,
Glad to hear you're doing well and getting plenty of sleep!!!! Drink some protein shakes or ensure to get that energy back. Quiet sleeping, that's a good sign!!! Take care and keep us posted.
Carolyn

New Hampshire · Post by **New Hampshire** » Sat Mar 18, 2006 6:40 am

ljmcd, how are you doing? Just checking....
--Dennis

ljmcd · Post by **ljmcd** » Mon Mar 27, 2006 9:00 pm

I am doing great. I am completely healed and I am sleeping wonderfully. My husband says that my snoring is gone. I haven't used the CPAP at all and am almost ready to send it back. In retrospect, the surgery was worth it. 2 weeks of pain to be rid of that machine. I couldn't live my life as a hosehead. Losing the 15 lbs probably helped too!! I am working hard not to gain it back. The recovery was tough, but it wasn't anything that the pain medicine couldn't handle. It certainly was not as bad as childbirth or a c-section. My ENT was great and she told me upfront what to expect. I think a lot of what I read on this sight frightened me. I was prepared for it to be alot worse than it was. For those of you considering it for Obstructive sleep, I would do it. What have you got to lose?

tonsillectomy and uvpp surgery on Wednesday.

What a difference a day makes

Re: What a difference a day makes

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