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Here it is 2 1/2 years since the operation, and over a year since my last post. My soon to be ex-wife says I still make noise and struggle in my sleep (why should sleep life be any different than waking life I wonder?). My throat still gets dry and I have to drink much more fluids than I used to - or maybe not - maybe I just notice it because now it's water instead of coke. I never regained my love of the taste of coke, though I managed to find other sources to make up for the caloric intake loss that not drinking coke provided. I still make clicking noises at seemingly random times. I choke on things more often and get things caught in my throat a lot more often which seems odd since there is less to get caught on "back there", but maybe those dangly bits usually stop things from getting to the throat and prevent things from choking one. My throat still looks like something from an alien autopsy - very unnaturally smooth. It was an interesting experience all in all, a q
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Not much to tell. I _can_ tell the difference that my throat is different. It just _feels_ different. My throat still gets dryer, I still need to drink a lot more fluids - but water intake is good so that's not a bad thing. I still click and pop when I swallow - I hear odd noises when I breathe at night that I don't recall but that could be just the result of paying attention to something I never paid attention to before. I make noises in my sleep but I don't snore anymore (heck I *cant* snore, even when I am awake and trying!) I guess overall the surgery wasn't that bad an experience, I would have like to keep off the 15-20 pounds I lost (and thought I would keep off with the reduced caloric intake due to quitting cola drinking), but all in all I think body parts are there for a reason and it's probably best to go through life with our bodies intact rather than remove things unless absolutely necessary.
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Long time with not much to report. The throat is still there, the spinning UPN network STILL looks like a 3D spinning uvula to me, and I still drink lots of water and no cocacola. I am fairly used to the occassional clicking and dryness (I think due simply to the fact that I have more oxygen flowing down my throat). But last night I discovered a side effect of the operation. I can no longer make a snoring sound EVEN WHEN I TRY! No 3-stooges sleep imitations for me. All I get is a nasally sound as the air rushes in through my nose but there's not enough tissue left in my upper palate to resonate! at least not when I am awake, M does say that I have been snoring in my sleep this past week.
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A friend recently asked the spouse whether I felt the operation was "worth it". After thinking about it for a few minutes I realized this. At this point I am unsure. Pros: I liked losing the weight(10-15 lbs). I seem to be able to breathe better even when awake. I get woken up being asked to roll over a lot less often then I used to (snoring doesn't wake my spouse). I learned to like the taste of water. Cons: It hurt. I lost most of my sense of taste for over a month, and over two months later some things still taste really bad to me (chicken, cola, beer) that I used to like. Permanent loss of taste sensation is a bad thing. It really hurt. I can't sneeze with my mouth closed anymore. It hurt. My throat makes odd clicking noises when I swallow (gulp) liquids. I need to drink a lot more fluids then I used to as my throat seems to dry out a lot easier. It hurt like hell. Whenever I see the UPN rotating "U"
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I haven't been posting here much since I no longer feel like a post-operative person. Life goes on and other things loom back into importance. Some lingering effects that are different than before the operation remain though. Mainly my sensation of taste still appears to be relatively fried. I can taste things, and things no longer taste outright burned to me, but most things still taste relatively flat. Mild things hardly register as good at all. Really strong flavors or excess amounts of butter or salt or sugar register, but milder amounts don't. Haven't tried coke in a few weeks, haven't even felt the desire to though I do miss the sensation of enjoying the taste of something so much. Potatoes and veggies with LOTS of butter taste ok. Paul Newman's butter boom popcorn tastes ok (though not overly buttery or salty like it used to), hershey's chocolate bars taste ok - cheap store brand halloween candy tastes like rancid cardboard. Milk is ok but feels lik
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Another day, trying not to think about whatever it is that feels like it is dangling down in the back of my thoat. Another day of irrigation and resisting the urge to just take a toothbrush to the back of my throat and clean out whatever it is that is coming loose.
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Ah, in reading the material about UPPPs and risks of surgery I just flashed to a memory I had from the surgery. One of the things that my most helpful Anaesthesiological team person told me was that one of the things he would do when he was taking me off of anaesthesia - bringing me back to consciousness - would be tell me to take deep breaths. He said it was really important to get oxygen going again because everything had been handled automatically. He said I probably wouldn't consciously remember the instructions because of the meds, but that sometimes it helped to mention to a patient before they were put under as it sometimes seemed to lodge in the subconscious. Anyways as I was lying (with eyes closed) in a foggy semi-euphoric yet completely dazed and confused bliss I remember hearing a chime, repeating a few times sounding fairly nearby. I then remember a voice saying "Breathe real deeply, just take a deep breath". I did several times and the chime and voice went
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