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| It turns out I have terrible sleep apnea, in addition to my chronic tonsillitis, due to my enlarged uvula (the hangy-downy thing in my throat), and permanently inflamed nasal tissues (turbinites). This means that my throat always hurts, my nose is always stuffy, and I stop breathing for up to 20 seconds about a hundred times each night. Ugh. I had no idea. So my doctor is going to cut out my tonsils, my uvula, and half my turbinites all in one surgery session. So in about a month, my whole head is going to hurt for about two weeks, but then I should be healthier, breathe better, get much better sleep, and stop snoring. Yay! Update: 2002/12/12 My surgery is scheduled for December 17th. Five days from now. I've had three people (including my doctor) tell me the surgery is going to be awful. Freakin' tonsils. Wish me luck! Update: 2002/12/18 Well, I'm home. My surgery took a but longer than expected, beacuse my doctor found a large absess in my sinus, and my tonsils extended deeper into my throught than expected. I spent all yesterday on large quantities of Morphine, as the Uvula removal turned out to be quite painful. Unexpectedly, the tonsillectomy and sinus tissue removal was not very painful; in contrast anyway. I'm now home, taking percocet, and alternating between naps and T.V. Vanessa is taking very good care of me, and while I was in the hospital, all the nurses were very attentive and kind. I would recomend Mission Hospital to anyone. I expect to be on a liquid diet for at least another couple of days, but I think I'll be able to actually eat something, on Christmas. Update: 2002/12/20 I'm actually getting much better! I can eat soups, I can talk quite a bit, and I'm not counting the minutes until my next percocet pill. Actually, I've forgotten to take it a couple of times. (For a little while) Initially, I had quite a bit of bleeding from my sinuses into my throat, but that has almost completely subsided, and since my doctor gave me a sinus cleaner spray thing today, I can breathe through my nose! Both nostrils! I know that doesn't sound like much to most of you, but for my entire life, I've only been able to breathe through one nostril at a time, one would always be clogged. I would travel to the middle of the desert to clear out my sinuses. Now, at home, with my two cats, and 60 pound dog, I can breathe almost like normal people! Wanna hear something really gross? After my operation, my doctor told me that he found two oddities in my head. One was that my tonsils were about twice as large as he expected. So much so that he needed special instruments to get them all out, and the other, that there was a puss-filled absess in one of my sinuses. (Turbinite tissue) The absess was in the middle of one of the terbinites, and enlarged that structure so much as to cut off air flow entirely! In removing that absess, he effectively cut in half that turbinite, and made that nostril much, much more usable. Ok, last thing today. This one is for all of you concidering this operation: During my sleep study, it was determined that my blood oxygenation level could dip down to 76% regularly. Very very low. The night after the surgery, my oxygenation level was at an AVERAGE of 96%. That's with the post-op swelling and blood clogging. 96%! Update: 2002/12/21 Well, I've been moving around more yesterday and today. Yesterday I went to do some Christmas shopping, and today I'll probably do some more. My throat and nose feel fine, I'm just so tired, and off-balance from the pain medication. Percocet works great on pain (almost as good as the morpinine I had in the hospital) but it messes you up! I take cat-naps unintentionaly throughout the day, and I keep daydreaming simple things, and then being confused about what I really remember having done! I find I can easily sit at the computer and work, but I always feel as though I'm going to fall off my chair, and I can't really focus. It's all very interesting. Update: 2002/12/27 It's been a week and a half since my surgery. I've re-learned how to swallow, without the use of a uvula. I can even drink sodas again. I've voluntarily taken myself off of pain medication, so that I can think clearly enough to do work, and there is no blood in my throat or nose any more. Most of the day I'm just fine, but I guess the eight hours of mouth-breathing while I sleep at night dries things out, because the mornings hurt quite a bit. I figure that'll complete healing over the next week or so. I was just well enough on Christmas to eat a couple of servings of Vanessa's father's prime rib! Man I'm hungry....dreaming... Update: 2003/11/01 When I was first diagnosed with sleep apnea, my doctor said that after my operation, and the apnea was corrected, I'd feel like "Superman". I throught about this for a while after my surgery, and thought he over-estimated that benifit. I was wrong though. For years (since before High School) I used to live life always tired. I would say dozens of times per day, "I'm so tired...". I used to sleep in till 1:00pm on weekends, and wake up terribly sleepy on weekdays. I figured out that in order to feel even relatively human, I needed 9 hours of sleep per day. I used to dread the possibility that something might wake me up in the middle of the night, beacuse then my whole night's sleep would be ruined. Last night I woke up a few times. No big deal. I went right back to sleep, and woke up by myself rested. I stand (well, sit) before you now, in my home office at 6:30am on a Saturday, after 8 wonderfully restful and satisfying hours of sleep, to tell you that, compared to how I used to feel, I do feel like Superman. 05/19/2004: This site is in no way affiliated with any medical institution nor any medical professional. This article and all comments are personal opinions only, and in no way should be interpreted as informed medical direction. Erik Burrows and ErikBurrows.com hereby waive any responsibility for actions taken by anyone in response to information obtained on this site. Always consult a trained physician when making decisions concerning medical care. | ||
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Comments: Click Here to view the first 1202 comments to this article! Erik (2009-09-21): Rebecca, I found that I had to re-learn how to swallow after my surgery. It took a while, but is completely automatic now. The way I do it is to pull the back of my tongue down to make a space for the food/drink, then push the front of my tongue up to help push it down. Good luck! James (2009-09-28): I am scheduled for the UPPP tomorrow morning. I'm a little nervous but am anxious to stop snoring and breath again. This is the first of two operations that the ENT is doing as he is doing my deviated septum in about a month. I am a body builder type so I am worried about eating. I weigh 230lbs. and I hope not to lose too much. I hope I can suck down a protein shake in a few days! James (2009-09-28): Oh, I have a tonsilectomy and UPPP tomorrow! Gwendolyn (2009-09-28): I'm a 40 year old female that had an tonsillectomy on September 14th and have had all kinds of trouble since then. I was sent home from the hospital without being able to swallow water, popsicles, liquid lortab, etc. I was admitted into the hospital for dehydration on September 16th and not being able to take antibiotic also. I was released on September 18th. Once again I was admitted into the hospital on September 23rd and released on September 25th. On the morning of September 25th the Gastrologist came and took me to be scoped and found out something was now wrong with my esophagus where it is not working properly. I've lost 32 pounds already and now they are talking about sending me to speacilist that deal with people that have strokes that can teach me how to eat and drink again. If by Friday I still can't hold anything down they have said they will put me in the hospital on a feeding tube. I see a string hanging in my throat and was wondering would this have anything to do with me not being able to eat? When does the string fall off? Sorry for venting but this is a real life horror story. James (2009-09-30): I am now home a day after my tonsillectomy and UPPP. I feel good and the surgery went well. I was eating jello and pudding last night. When I tried to drink my milk through a straw though, it came up through my nose. I did best with crushed ice and right now that is my favorite fluid. I had oatmeal for breakfast, which really surprised me. At home today I was able to eat chicken noodle soup along with a Muscle Milk Protein Shake. This will allow me to hopefully keep my weight and muscle mass up. After hearing some of the horror stories on here, I actually feel quite lucky to have progressed this far on my second day! James (2009-10-02): This is my third day after my surgery and talking is hard right now. I sometimes speak with a lisp. It feels like I have bad strep throat(times 3). It is hard to drink fluids as they eventually go up my nose. I have been chewing on ice chips and sucking down Muscle Milk Protein Shakes through a straw. I need to get more rest today as I have not been napping since I have been home. I have been popping the Percocet's every 4 hours! Rebecca (2009-10-04): Gwendolyn - I am so sorry to hear that you are having such a terrible experience (and I thought mine was bad)! If you haven’t already, I would certainly ask the doctor about the string; I didn’t see one when I had mine done. Please keep us posted so we know how you are doing. It has been a hellish two-plus weeks here. I have to say, that first week, I thought I had made the biggest mistake of my life having the surgery. It’s getting better though; I am starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I still don’t know if it was worth it yet, as I have had a sinus infection; between the discomfort and swelling of the surgery and the sinus infection, I haven’t slept enough to know if it has improved my sleep apnea. I guess time will tell. Thanks Erik for the eating tip; I will have to give it a try! James (2009-10-07): The string may be your stitches. James (2009-10-07): Well, it's been 8 days since my surgery and I have begun eating things like pizza again and I had a peanut butter sandwich yesterday. I try eating these things when my throat feels the best throughout the day. The protein shakes with ice chips, strawberries, peanut butter and 2 scoops of Whey Protein, blended together feels very good on the throat not to mention being very good with calories and nutrition for you. I am still on the Percocet's about every 4 hours and I find that I feel the best when I take 2 naps during the day. I was up yesterday painting around the house(my wife is a slave driver). I also asked if she has heard me snoring and to my surprise she said, 'no'! I have a big problem snoring and it seems as though the surgery has cleared my airway enough to rid me of this problem! I feel as though the surgery for myself was well worth it! Claire (2009-10-07): I am now 6 days out from my up3. The regurgitation of liquids is getting better but it is still very painful to eat any foods. My doc says I am doing good. The hardest part is trying to swallow foods which I guess I will have to relearn. When does that seem to improve? I've also had a lot of nausea with the pain meds. I guess time will heal everything. James (2009-10-14): Claire, it get's better at about 8 or 9 days. I have been cleared to return to work after about 15 days. I had a hamburger over the weekend. Can't eat my favorite spicy foods yet but getting better. My first stitch feel out today, I can look in the mirror and see the stitches in the back of my mouth. James (2009-10-14): I am now scheduled for Part 2 of my surgery: Nasal Septoplasty. I will hopefully be able to breath better through my nose and not sound so nasally when I speak. Rebecca (2009-10-22): Okay, it has been almost five weeks since my surgery. My stitches are hanging down and bothering me; I still have a terrible sore throat; my breath is always ghastly; and I have copious amounts of mucus in my nose and running down my throat; and there is no way to put this politely, but the boogers are monster-sized!! Sneezing is always a mix of amazement and disgust. On the bright side, I can eat anything I want now and I am getting better with liquids. This has truly been a long recovery. James – Hope your surgery went well! Lisa (2009-11-11): Rebecca - I hope you are doing better by now. Have you tried nasal irrigation for the mucus? I had by tonsils & adenoids out + turbinate reduction 2+ years ago and still do the irrigation almost daily. Helps cut down on allergy symptoms for me (without meds). I like the Neilmed squirt bottle method best -- gross to begin with, but it gets a lot easier. I like to say it's just like brushing your teeth - it's that easy! Good luck! It DOES get better! I haven't checked this website in ages, but remember it as a haven when I was going through recovery. Thanks Erik! Tami (2009-11-12): I am 48 years old and I had the U3P surgery and diviated septum last Tuesday. It has been just over a week and starting to see results. Stitches are in my nose, and I still can't breath good through nose. I haven't experienced pain in nose. I was worried about the tonsil pain, but I haven't had the severe pain as planned, and they were extra large! The extreme pain has been in the throat with the soft pallet and uvula removal. It hurts, but the med's have helped. All in all, I am doing much better than I expected. It's going to be wonderful to breath so much air and be healthy again! Brad (2009-11-20): Surgery was in early June. Stitches are long gone, and the pain is long gone. I am curious, though. . . does anyone else have occasional gagging for no apparent reason? I gag when I brush my teeth at times, and every time I try to gargle or brush my tongue. But, there are times when there is nothing that I can point to as a catalyst; I just start to gag. Ann (2010-01-04): Hi, I am scheduled to have tonsils,atnoides and turbinite surgery on the 28th of jan. Very afraid is this surgery realy worth it. I am 47 yrs old and alone. will I need to find help this does not sound good. any words of advice for me?? (2010-01-14): had the full job on 8/1/10 tonsils.out uvula removed. nip n tuck to tighten up age worn muscle . septum adjusted to suit the nose .1 week on an still sore as . swallowing still a chore.earaches annoying. the end result is ful of promises. heres waitin n hopin Amanda (2010-01-15): Hi, my daughter is 2 and a half years old and had surgery at the beginning of november having tonsils and adnoids removed. Being 2, she really cannot communicate what she is feeling but she constantly gags and coughs all of the time. Now that she has had the surgery, she won't let me even see her throat, much less the doctor. Do you have any similiar symptoms this late after surgery? Thanks Amanda (2010-01-15): I forgot to put that she vomits from the gagging almost daily. She has also gotten very particular about what she eats....nothing but chicken nuggets all the time....I have to stock up on tyson....lol. Any help would be great to try for her. |
