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[Treatment] My severe OSA is .. cured
#11
RE: My severe OSA is .. cured
First, congrats on the surgery, as I'm sure you know, time will help (and heal).

I had this surgery some 7yrs (I think) ago, shortly after getting my nose worked on. Didn't affect my speech in any way that anyone that's known me has noticed. My only real issue with the surgery is now that 'Mr. Flappy' is gone, I tend to swallow wrong, or 'inhale' like small bits of hamburger and then have coughing fits that can last 20-30 minutes.

In my case, the hope of a silver bullet, or magic answer was very slim, it was more to lower my AHIs, and make me more stable.

The nose surgery I would do again in a heartbeat, however, the throat surgery I am not so sure of. I do not *see* any real day-to-day benefits of the throat surgery, but was told that it was a great success and all that - let's just say that I'd rather have another knee replaced, given all that I know now.
*I* am not a DOCTOR or any type of Health Care Professional.  My thoughts/suggestions/ideas are strictly only my opinions.

"Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your Soul, the other for your Freedom."
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#12
RE: My severe OSA is .. cured
(10-05-2013, 10:18 PM)Peter_C Wrote: First, congrats on the surgery, as I'm sure you know, time will help (and heal).

I had this surgery some 7yrs (I think) ago, shortly after getting my nose worked on. Didn't affect my speech in any way that anyone that's known me has noticed. My only real issue with the surgery is now that 'Mr. Flappy' is gone, I tend to swallow wrong, or 'inhale' like small bits of hamburger and then have coughing fits that can last 20-30 minutes.

In my case, the hope of a silver bullet, or magic answer was very slim, it was more to lower my AHIs, and make me more stable.

The nose surgery I would do again in a heartbeat, however, the throat surgery I am not so sure of. I do not *see* any real day-to-day benefits of the throat surgery, but was told that it was a great success and all that - let's just say that I'd rather have another knee replaced, given all that I know now.

It is sad that you went through the throat surgery to not see any benefit from it (like not having apnea anymore) and on top of that, have the issues of swallowing wrong or inhaling bits of food which can be dangerous. It seems like this surgery is something I would not consider unless current treatment was not working and if I didn't do something, I could die. I don't like pain (had more than my fair share of that I my lifetime).

Thanks for sharing your experience with this.

I have to ask this though. If they removed your palate, it it like an open wound in the top of your mouth or what? That would bother me as far as no protection of germs, etc. that would have direct access to your brain. I know I don't understand this part completely so I wanted to ask.
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#13
RE: My severe OSA is .. cured
(10-05-2013, 09:35 PM)JJJ Wrote:
(10-05-2013, 11:51 AM)cured Wrote: They took out pallet, tonsils, other stuff, and the base of the tongue.

The palate is pretty important for making some sounds of language, although less so in English than in other languages. However, in English being able to advance and retract the tongue root is critical to making some of the vowels. So how is your speech?

Getting better. talking like an old man right now.
Mainly because of pain. I have pain meds every 4 hours so my speech quality is like a sine wave.


the doc said there was a minimum amount of palate that had to remain.
Don't remember what the millimeters were. I give presentations and made that clear to her. She said it would not be an issue. So far, so good
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#14
RE: My severe OSA is .. cured
(10-05-2013, 10:18 PM)Peter_C Wrote: First, congrats on the surgery, as I'm sure you know, time will help (and heal).

I had this surgery some 7yrs (I think) ago, shortly after getting my nose worked on. Didn't affect my speech in any way that anyone that's known me has noticed. My only real issue with the surgery is now that 'Mr. Flappy' is gone, I tend to swallow wrong, or 'inhale' like small bits of hamburger and then have coughing fits that can last 20-30 minutes.

In my case, the hope of a silver bullet, or magic answer was very slim, it was more to lower my AHIs, and make me more stable.

The nose surgery I would do again in a heartbeat, however, the throat surgery I am not so sure of. I do not *see* any real day-to-day benefits of the throat surgery, but was told that it was a great success and all that - let's just say that I'd rather have another knee replaced, given all that I know now.

hate to break the rules, but for anyone who has followed tors sleep apnea surgery, i have to ask if you had yours in Philly with Dr. T? Hopefully that was adroit enough. She indicated that they have made a lot of changes in the past several years. Everything from the selection of people, to the way in which they perform the surgery. Just wish they had improved post op experience. So, not seeing any apneas at all. Well, wife not witnessing any at all. But as someone said, the 3 month sleep study will be more definitive. I'm so sorry you went through this and are still on cpap. I was directed by surgeon not to use it for next 3 months as it can put a lot of pressure on the stitches. I think i had the most sleep in 11 days last night where i went 4 sleep, 45 minutes for pain meds, another 4 for sleep. No sleepiness at all. At end of 3 months, if i have to go back on cpap, ahhggg!
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#15
RE: My severe OSA is .. cured
My surgery was done here in OH. I honestly do not remember all of the details, and perhaps it was not the same procedure? They took out the flappy, micro'ed then sectioned the base of my tongue, and scraped?? removed a lot of tissue from the top of my mouth and throat.

Knowledge and skills change with time, and years ago they (my DRs) were concerned that the machine (CPAP) would not be enough, so ordered the surgery, not in hopes of a silver bullet, but in hope of just getting a lower pressure - which it did do.

*I* am not a DOCTOR or any type of Health Care Professional.  My thoughts/suggestions/ideas are strictly only my opinions.

"Only two defining forces have ever offered to die for you. Jesus Christ and the American Soldier. One died for your Soul, the other for your Freedom."
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#16
RE: My severe OSA is .. cured
I am sorry that you had to go through all this without a great outcome. I have made my feelings clear about surgical procedures elsewhere on this forum, one quite recently today, in fact, and at great length, but it is of little help if you already went through it, and thank you for the cautionary tale. I hope you can recover your speech fully, and with therapy it may well be possible, but I am sure you will have noticed by now that not only has your speech pattern changed, but also your accent, which is strongly dependant on the rear of the throat. By now you are using the front of your tongue far more and probably sounding more clipped and less rounded on the sounds. I have had a few patients that took actor's vocal training in addition to traditional speech therapy with some very good results, especially as German, Swiss German in particular, is a very back of the throat language, and the breathing and vocalisation exercises helped in returning a reasonable ability to sound out words. Some others have used Tomatis Therapy to some good effect.

For those considering surgery who want to have a clear exposition on my views, just look at my recent postings. One point though - although I am indeed one of those white coat guys, I do not speak here in any professional capacity, merely offer opinions and thoughts. You should always consult your own certified medical professionals in person.
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#17
RE: My severe OSA is .. cured
cured, I sure hope that's the case. My next door neighbor had surgery years ago and it cured her sleep apnea.
Thanks for the heads up on the procedure. Keep us posted, please.
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#18
RE: My severe OSA is .. cured
thanks skyler,
So far, so good. Past the point of wishing i had not gone through with it.
Though i still wish i had known the intensity of the pai.
Sleeping like a baby. No Apneas.

Just had 5 bites from a scrambled egg, first solid food in 11 days.
Here's what I have discovered helps gets through the pain:
1. prayer
2. a good wife
3. prayer
3. Cool or ice water bath in the mouth where you just rinse the yuck out
4. Holding i n the ice water bath as long as possible seems to have reduced swelling in tongue more quickly
5. Drinking as much as you can stand within 30 minutes of pain meds
6. Today's egg bites were made with extra butter. Not sure, but the butter seemed to help it slide on in and provided a protective coat so i could also have a spoon of smashed banana. Later on the same smashed banana burned like heck
7. a good wife
8. prayer

My only purpose here was to warn first hand that the pain is real and be ready for it.
I don't know the doc of a previous post here, and i'm sure he has his points, but my doc did warn me
about all those things. Just not enough about depth of pain. I was with the docs who invented all this and i am patient 100 and some in their study. So, they have had a chance to see a lot of people and
to modify their surgical approach. Certainly would not want to be patient 1!

I am certainly looking forward to BURN THE MASK DAY. I plan to get a plastic head, mount the mask, pour on gasoline, and toast marshmallows to never, never, ever, ever, having to be tethered to a machine again.
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#19
RE: My severe OSA is .. cured
I often find that sucking on an tea bag (make a cuppa first and let the bag cool) will help with the pain and recovery - the tannic acid in the tea leaves acts to fight infection, reduce swelling and sooth painful incisions. It was a trick I picked up from a dental surgeon years ago and it works a treat for oral surgery, and yes, the pain is something out of this world, another reason I don't recommend it.

My old professor recommended whiskey - you would hold it in your mouth as long as you could. Eventually you would have to swallow it, and then you would have to take in more to replace the bit you swallowed. I loved that man......
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#20
RE: My severe OSA is .. cured
Figured this was due for an update for any interested. Still no apnea sightings by wife. Had a recording 02 sat monitor but kept falling off. If i can find it, i'll try using one more time. Pain getting more reasonable to deal with.
Starting some solids. Had small bowl of well soaked cherios this morning. Going to try potato soup in a minute.
So far, lost well over 20 pounds.

Talking and swallowing still the most painful. Wife loves the silence
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