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3rd Day After Stanford Surgery

Posted by GregT on August 18, 2001 at 03:21:35:

I'm pretty high on pain meds now, but vowed to write this, as the forum info comforted me last week. I was released from Stanford Med. Cntr. today after having a UPPP, Tonsilectomy, Hyoid Suspension, and Lyposuction on my neck. Two ENT surgeons operated for 4 hours while I was under general anesthesia. The room was sched for only 2 hrs but lypo and tonsils took long. All is said to have gone well. I'm 6'1 and 210 lbs (203 today and dropping fast) and at 37 yrs old have had a lazy hyiod bone for about 9 years. The hyoid is behind the adam's apple. This 1st annoyed my wife, then caused me to have very dry throats in the morns and make me often wake up gagging. Then about a year and a half ago, I maybe gained 5 lbs (I don't think so significant) and started having a different snoring problem. My uvula started closing on me and it bugged me so much that my hyiod didn't have a chance to relax. A year ago I had surgery on my Diviated Septum as that San Jose Med. Cntr. ENT Dr. said that was about the only alternitive I had for my insurance to pay. The surgery just maybe may help inhaling, I guess, but had no effect on my worsening apnea. He was an old established Dr. who said I could pay out of pocket to reduce my sinuses with radio waves but strongly was against futher surgery as "You can't put it back once it's taken away."
I was going nuts! I've been sleeping in the guestroom for a year and am waking myself up gagging all the time! I work for Pac Bell and yanked both shoulders while sliding down a pole a few monthes ago and have to turn and sleep on those shoulders as my back is not an option.
I changed my PCP to a Dr. at Stanford at my sister's encouragement. Stanford is reviewing all HMOs now so I may be kicked out of their system Jan. 2002 per a letter I recently got.
I made another ENT appt. This time the Dr. stuck a scope down a nostril after slightly numbing my sinuses. She said without any hesitation that she will do an lot of surgery on me and I need to do a sleep study so my insurance will see my apnea issues (which were clear to her).
The 3 night sleep test was not so bad as it had clear instructions and an 800 help # and all done thru FedEx.
Next appt. Dr. said study shows 20 apnea episodes/hr and it's funny because that was even on the two days that I thought I had unusually great sleep. We sched surgery as I knew I was not going to diet or sleep with a noisy cpap next to me instead of my wife for the rest of my life. I adjusted the surg. date as my friend got married, that's when I found out my ENT DR who was on a fellowship quit and now the ENT Dept. Head was taking over on the surgery. I liked this! I met him at the preop the day before surg. He answered all my questions and seemed to have more time avail than his harem of students always following him after my surg. He said the lypo is for free as Stanford is observing it's sleeping benefits and my HMO would never cover it.
5:30am Tues. already crowded at main hospital surg. area. Final papers signed, gown on, anesthesiologist decided to put breathing tube down me after I was under, anesthesia in at 7:15am.
Noonish, done I heard, I remember none of recovery which was till around 2pm and little of the next few hrs. My 1st memories were of true miserie. Super dopey, lungs coughing up fluid into a throat that was best decribed in a past forum as a nuclear sore throat. Your gagging on anasthetic stuff in your lungs it seemes to be all caught in your throat and stuck to your uvula and tonsils, oh that's right it's now a big 3" row of self-absorbing stitches. The burn grabs your chest when you try to swallow, but you feel you have to swallow 'cause you got so much going on in there. I had till this morning, an IV which dispenced also antibiotics, steriods for swelling, nausia meds for my empty stomach and till yesterday I had a "push-button for extra morophine in my IV" dispenser. This morn. they also removed a puss-drain tube comming from just under my chin and going into a vaccum machine and a head net which held the dressing putting pressure on my lypoed neck and covered the 2 inch cut (which is 1 inch under my chin and the puss-drain hole).
I sat twisted and gagging in pain the 1st night, no sleep. It was very tough. I wrote little notes to my wife and friend as talking, you could say, was "out of the question"! The team of docs all came by and said how good it all went but were worried about my lungs and encouraged me to take a little walk in the hall and breath mist for a couple days to get more oxygen into my lungs.
Day 2 my lungs got much better and x-rays confirmed no pneumonia issues. I tried the liquid meals but they burned when they squished in all directions and up the sinuses and across the stitches. I started holding my right nostril closed and leaning my head to the right and keeping my tounge on the left side and squishing the liquid to the right side it would usually end up going down. Last night and today I'm getting enough down that they were comfortable with me leaving this morn.
Now, my lypo-suctioned neck is mostely numb and the cut looks kind of bad. My throat in starting to get sore and gag me a little as I need my pain killers again. I'm dizzy from no decent meal since Monday. And like day 2 I can't get louder than a soft short whisper. I walk out to my front yard and that's it. My energy is losing to the pain killers.
The bottom line, I'm a little miserable but have been breathing for the past 2 days right down my throat and not having it relax and shut on me when I get my little bits of sleep. I think it's gonna work!!! They say it will take time. The hardest days are definitely over as every meal I can sip a little more at a time.
I'm amazed I wrote as much as I did here. It's my biggest accomplishment since surgery, but I want to blab the truth so someone will have a little more to go on. I knew it wouldn't be easy when I went into it. Now I get to look forward to the rest of my life! Good luck, everyone!

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