SO... as to all those who have not had this surgery, I have; 3days ago! Yes it hurts, yes in a lot o pain, but I already am sleeping better, not snoring, and the pain is slowly (VERY) decreasing in intensity!  I recommend the surgery as a 27 yr. old that used CPAP and could not stand it. Like I said 3 days and Im on here telling u its not that bad! I have not taken my pain meds since 8 and its now 1230, MAN up and do it! Its definitely  worth your while!  UPPP/ TONSILECTEMY I AGREE!!!

Don't be skipping the pain meds. It is very difficult to catch up and the pain is intense.

Day 3 is not a good judge of the real pain. My day 4 was the best day post surgery. I had surgery on a Tuesday was able to stay awake all day on Saturday relaxing, watching college football from noon to 11PM and never even took a nap! I felt great. Sunday night the pain kicked in and it HURT! My pain was note as bad as I was told to expect but it was still way up there.

I had my UPPP on Nov 27, 2007. I'm waiting for a call from my ENT and a DME for a CPAP machine. BTW, I don't have some of the really negative problems of fluids out the nose but swallowing can be difficult at times.

You should also know that I was a "perfect candidate"...

Popeye

All..I just wanted to chime in and say this thread has been immensely helpful to me.  I was curious about my upcoming surgery experience and it helps out a ton to read about everyone's experiences.  I'm scheduled for surgery this coming Monday, May 12th.  I'll be having UPPP and Turbinate reduction, along with a septoplasty.  My AHI levels were fairly low at a level of 9, but my oxygen level reached 86% at one point in my sleep study and my snoring is absolutely horrendous and has been my entire lifetime.

My doctor suggested the above surgeries for me and I'm just looking forward to everything being done and finished/over with as soon as possible.  I'll try to post my daily experiences back on this thread as I've seen so many of the others do.  I'm not having my tonsils out or anything at all done to them, so hopefully my pain experiences and recovery period won't be so bad or as long as the rest of you.

Thanks again!
Peter

I forgot to mention that in discussing the UPPP with my doctor, I brought up the pillar procedure with him.  He basically said that the pillar procedure is great for people who have had all the nasal work done and still have a soft palette.  For me, I have large turbinates and he said doing the Pillar or the UPPP without also doing the nasal work was really pointless as he said both of them contribute to snoring and sleep apnea.

Many of you have mentioned the ineffectiveness of UPPP, but I was curious how many also had nasal work done simulataneously and how your experiences were when having done both?

petey wrote:

Many of you have mentioned the ineffectiveness of UPPP, but I was curious how many also had nasal work done simulataneously and how your experiences were when having done both?

Pete,
Been there, done that. I was an excellent candidate meaning I was in excellent health, thin (Male 5'10", 145 lbs.). I had the UPPP, deviated septum fixed (rt side 90% blocked), sinuses cleaned out. ENT claimed 90% success rate based on "doing hundreds of these". I don't snore anymore. No complications from surgery and my pain wasn't anything like I expected. Guess what? I still have sleep apnea! Swallowing is still a bit odd 5+ months later. I'm eagerly waiting for a CPAP machine to get my sleep apnea under control.

My recommendation is do all the sinus work but LEAVE THE UVULA and SOFT PALATE ALONE! If I had it to do over again that is what I would do. The only positive is that as best as we can figure the UPPP stressed my body so badly (pain and pain pills) that my bladder threw off blood and clots about 2.5 weeks after my surgery and I learned I had bladder cancer. Oh, and did I tell you that the antibiotics from all that gave me antibiotic induced colitis. SKIP THE SURGERY!

Popeye

P.S. Sorry to "shout". The wise voices on this forum strongly recommended against UPPP but I did it anyway. Learn from our mistakes.

Popeye...sounds like you had a really rough go of it.  What was your AHI level prior to the surgery and post?  If my snoring is gone when this is all over, that will be worth every last amount of pain I experience.  My snoring has been an incredibly socially debilitating disease for me and one of constant embarrassment.  My sleep apnea is only secondary in my opinion, though I'm sure my health would say otherwise.

Did you have a good doctor and where did you have it done?  Hopefully you aren't in Chicago.

petey wrote:

Popeye...sounds like you had a really rough go of it.  What was your AHI level prior to the surgery and post?  If my snoring is gone when this is all over, that will be worth every last amount of pain I experience.  My snoring has been an incredibly socially debilitating disease for me and one of constant embarrassment.  My sleep apnea is only secondary in my opinion, though I'm sure my health would say otherwise.

Did you have a good doctor and where did you have it done?  Hopefully you aren't in Chicago.

If I remember correctly the AHI was around 18, waiting on the post surgery results but will still need CPAP. My snoring is virtually gone but I struggle with swallowing at times. The sleep apnea should be your primary concern. To put it very bluntly you won't have to worry about snoring being a debilitating disease if you suffer more severe problems later like strokes, heart attacks and early death.

The base of my tongue is collapsing blocking the airway. Was it doing it before? The doctor looked but didn't see it. Could it be that with the soft palate opened up my tongue falls back easier? Maybe. Had I chosen to have the deviated septum fixed back in September instead of trying to get a UPPP approved I would be enjoying my 8th month of good CPAP sleep instead of surgery recovery and the interminable wait for a machine.

I'm in an Atlanta suburb.

Popeye

Hi All -

Well it is Sunday morning.  I have read 20 pages of this thread over the last few hours.  Good information.  My story started a few years ago.  I had bad sleep apnea etc, and simply had my tonsils out.  Having the enlarged tonsils out cured the sleep issues and got me off CPAP.  It was a bit SWAT at the problem.  I have not been on CPAP for over a year, maybe year and a half....and the sleep doctor has said "You are fine, dont come back for 10yrs unless you get tired".

I still have a stuffy nose a lot, and snore 50% less than pre tonsil removal.  Thou, the 50% is still annoying.

I have elected to have Nasal Septoplasty to correct deviated septum, nasal turbinate reducation, and a "mild" form of UPPP.

Mild as being definated as uvula removal and 1mm of palette removal to tighten palette.  The surgery is scheduled for May 19th at 7:30am.

I will keep the board updated as to progress.  My entire journey into sleep apnea and back is documented if you search Flowbee S8 on the forums....I posted daily for about a month or more.

This is the next, and presumably final, step.  My hope is to document the results of this second surgery.....and end my chatter on this forum.

Hopefully at the end I will have had tonsil removal, nasal septoplasty, nasal turbinate reduction, mild UPPP....and results will be ...no longer snore....no CPAP....basically cured...thru surgery.

More to follow.


_________________
Off CPAP Post Surgery
Formerly: Respironics M Series AutoPap

Today is day is day 10.  What to eat.....  I'm starving but can't eat.  I've had enough jello, sherbert, ice cream and pudding to last a life time.  I've eaten some eggs?!?!?  Kind of okay going down.  Any suggestions?

BTw - My ears are killing me and those sweats, OMG.  From what I've read in threads, this is normal and will go away.  The sooner the better.    I actually ate a White Castle Cheeseburger on day 5.  Day 6 everything went to hell in a hand basket.  The throat pain.  I had UPPP, Tonsil and septaplasty.  I still want to eat, but am running out of ideas.  Any ideas?

I had the surgery April 25 so this is day 16.  I had the uppp and a diviated septum done. The nose really has not bothered me.  I just need to know if my taste buds will return to normal and I have the sweats.  I have lost 16 pounds.  I also wake up every few hours with my throat burning.  I am off all meds and just am praying that this will all subside.  It is a pain to eat because I cant seem to swallow all the way.  The food is getting stuck and I have to cough it up and then re chew.  My appetite is not much and when I drink I have to drink slow.  What should I expect in the future, which will get better and which parts wont? My doctor seems to laugh when I tell him I am in pain telling me that I am fine and just give it time.  I am really frustrated.

Anonymous wrote:

My Husband is having UPPP surgery and his septum fixed on Friday.   I'm told he should only have clear liquids - juice, water and broth?  At room temp.

Can anyone clue me in.  I want to make sure I have whatever he might need or want in the house

I hope he enjoys drooling on his pillow. Eating or drinking anything wont be on his mind at all.
His first problem will be convincing the Doctor you need more pains meds.......It was very aggravating to say the least.
Its been 15yrs and it still gets my BP up.....Grrrrr

In my spare time I had a trach done 6 days ago. Got home yesteday, compared to UPPP, there isnt any pain involved.

Take Care,

BigJohn

bman598 wrote:

Well today is Day 13 and I woke up actually not feeling in pain that I needed to immediately grab my meds.  I still have a sore throat, but today is the first time it was manageable.  I am still using saline spray for my septoplasty.  I still took my liquid vicoden today and am only take it every 12 hours now.  Hopefully by this weekend, I can finish weaning off my meds, which is my goal.  Eating has gotten better, had chicken nuggets yesterday and biscuits today.  Biscuits were a but tough, might have scratched a scab, but no significant blood.  Anyone have any questions, please ask.  People ask if I would do this surgery again, and the answer is YES!  I can breath out of my nose and so far, the sleep is a tad better and hopefully it will get better each day!

I am just responding to your  input,This is my 13th day after my uppp surgery and i think the back of my tongue was also thinned out and maybe attached to gums,im not sure exactly what was all done but i keep reading all these inputs from people about how they are doing and everyone seems to be able to eat after a week,then theres me today i had mashed potatoes mixed with cream corn and added lots of water to make it like a soup and i had a problem just getting the damn corn to go down it took like 3-4 swallows just for one bite and i have also lost about 10-15 lbs which all came off in the first 5 days.
I guess my question is how long does it take to start feeling good/almost normal with no pain and be able to have a descent meal?
Someone please help me and answer my questions because my surgeon obviously isnt a good one,he gave me a sheet on tonselectomy and all the after affects of that surgery so i kind of went through this surgery blind and never found this site untill after my surgery,so as you can all tell im not to pleased with my surgeon.

All...I've been home since 10am this morning.  I had a UPPP and nasal turbinate reduction done yesterday morning...no tonsillectomy.   Nose isn't really giving me any pain at all.  They had me stay over in the hospital last night.  I had a good deal of throat pain last night and did not sleep well in the hospital.  I guess what else would you expect though.  I woke up every 45 min or so and had to slough down some ice chips to cool down my parched and painful upper throat area.

I can't imagine how much extra pain would be involved with getting tonsils out.  The top of my throat is obviously sore from the UPPP, but the back of my throat is fine and the double whammy of pain that comes with doing both must be awful.

Anyway...went straight from the hospital discharge to the doctor's office this morning and he removed the "nasal trumpets" and packing straight away from my nose and vacuumed both nostrils with some sort of device.  That was one hell of a tugging experience.  I felt like he was going to suck everything out of my head with that thing and it was by no means a comfortable experience.  At least it was quick though.

Anyway...here I am, 2nd night after surgery and I feel much much better.  Throat pain is uncomfortable, but tolerable.  They have me on Lortab and all the normal nasal sprays for my nose.  I've been able to eat soup, jello and pudding packs.  I also had some spaghetti tonight, though it felt like it was getting caught in my throat, so I stopped eating it.  It feels like my voice sounds different and family has told me so as well, but hopefully (fingers crossed), that won't be a permanent thing.

I'll try to report back to let everyone know how things are going.

Peter

All...closing out day 3 post surgery and I'm feeling pretty well overall.  I've been able to eat a Banquet Enchilada dinner, had some pudding, scrambled eggs and lots of jello today.  Throat isn't too sore and totally manageable with the pain meds.  I may try to cut them out in the next couple days if this keeps up.  No pain really still in my nose.

Overall, things have been well.  I've been able to taste some familiar tastes in food, so sense of taste is only impaired and not gone at this point and that's also understandable.

I'll try to keep posting as the days go along, but overall, much better than expected and with much less pain.