Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty


As most of you know, I’ve made my career working in healthcare. Spending 8 hours a day in a hospital seems normal to me. I’ve always had a morbid fascination with the internal processes of the body, especially surgical procedures. I’ve only had surgery once, but I’ve had a long history of less invasive procedures. I had my sleep study last week, and I meet with my sleep specialist on Thursday to discuss the best treatment options for my sleep-disordered breathing. At my initial visit with him, he had listed a variety of surgical options that may be of value to my health (including Lap Band for weight loss, as my sleep issues will not subside until I lose at least 80 pounds).

This morning I’ve been researching UPPP – Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. It’s a procedure where my tonsils, uvula and part of my soft palate would be removed to remedy my very constricted airway. I have been wavering for a few years whether I would get a tonsillectomy because I have large tonsils and frequently get tonsillitis, but I know the recovery time and pain level is horrible as an adult. But since my breathing has been so labored since October, and my snoring (caused by a constricted air passageway) is out of control…it really may be time for surgery.

As I read about it on Wiki, I was freaked out by the following side effect:
Patients who have had the uvula removed will become unable to correctly speak French or any other language that has a uvular ‘r’ phoneme.

If I get the UPPP, I might have to give up on Le Français and take up Español.

Comments

  1. Yikes, that uvula surgery sounds very painful! And removing part of your soft pallet would affect your singing too. 🙁 Doesn’t sound fun at all.

    On the tonsilectimy note, I’ve had my tonsils out both as a child and an adult. I must say it was much more painful as a child. (Of course I only had 1 out as an adult and 2 out as a child. lol)I personally think the uvula surgery would be more painful than a tonsilectomy. Eeeek! 😉

    I wish you well with the Thrive program! Nicole, YOU CAN lose the weight! I beleive in you and have hope for you! Do you beleive in yourself? Do you have hope of achieving this goal? If you’re like me, these 2 factors are key to success. I still think you’d like the Inside Out Weight Loss podcasts– and they are free. 🙂 Seriously, check them out on iTunes sometime. But don’t listen to what I say or what anybody else says. Find what works best for you because that’s what matters.

    Love you!

    Disclaimer: There are probably major typos in this as I don’t have my spell check right now. 🙂

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