Tonsillectomy questions.

Here's the story: I am getting my tonsils out in a little under a month from now, which will possibly (hopefully!) cure my sleep apnea. I am 25 years old, female, 5'4" and 234 lbs. I have NEVER had surgery where I am put under general anesthesia before, and because of my sleep apnea I am very worried. Okay, terrified. So I want to be as thin, er, not-fat, as possible before the surgery, to lessen the risk of complication.

My 1st question is this: Should I try getting on a fad-y type diet which will provide me with super weight loss (even if it's not sustainable) so that I could lose as much as possible before the surgery? Or will the nonhealthiness of it counteract any weight loss benefits? Is there even a healthy fad diet?

Secondly, for those not in the know, after you get your tonsils out, it's basically two weeks of recovery, accompanied by what my doctor referred to as a "cocktail of painkillers". During this recovery, eating/swallowing is very very painful, and most people lose 10 - 15 pounds because they can't eat anything but popsicles and applesauce. Are there any foods you can recommend that have those same qualities (i.e., cold, liquidy) that I could vary my diet with, and possibly get all my nutrients? I have already fruit smoothie on the list. :)

Furthermore, if anyone else has gone through this, I would appreciate tips! I have looked for stuff online, but the resources for adult tonsillectomies aren't as good as for child tonsillectomies -- I can't even get a straight answer on whether I can have ice cream! (Also, an acquaintance had told me she got hers out a long time back and the doctor recommended she eat Doritos. So... yeah.) All I know this this: I NEED to drink water, even though I will not want to.

Thanks!

PS: I was originally going to title this "A healthy fad diet followed by two weeks of high calorie foods?" but I thought that sounded a little too controversial. :)

Don't do a fad diet.  Think about it this way, would you rather be heavier going into the surgery but have your body in good condition or would you rather weigh a bit less but have your body stressed from a fad diet?  I think your odds of coming out of the surgery without complications are significantly better if you do not do a fad diet.

The diet I do recommend is a 500-1,000 calorie deficit per day composed of whole grains, lean proteins, healthy fats and fruits and vegetables.  In addition I recommend doing some strength training to increase your lean muscle mass and some cardio for overall endurance.  This should let you lose about 1-2 lbs of weight per week while maintaining or even increasing your muscle mass.  You don't have to do it all at once, maybe alternate cardio and weights every other day so that you have a reasonable mix and take every third or fourth day off to stretch.

I think much of the kid tonsillectomy stuff can be applied to adults.  Apple sauce and popsicles are a good start.  You could make your own popsicles out of your favorite juices or protein smoothies to get a healthier blend.  If you don't have popsicle molds you can just use ice cube trays and put a toothpick in for a handle.  I think ice cream is a matter of whether or not you can keep it down although you won't want to be sucking anything through a straw I suspect.  A lot of people do smoothie diets and manage to get all their nutrients and calories.  You can blend almost anything in a blender or a magic bullet to make it swallowable.  Add a bit of brown rice to your smoothie for bulk or some whole grain bread.

I had sleep apnea when I was younger and I got my adenoids/tonsils removed and I remember drinking lots of fruit juices and milk and smoothies. Drinking fluids is really important. I remember my favorite of the foods I'd consume was SOUP BROTH. Delicious stuff. Any soup in general should be good.

If you're going to have popsicles, STAY AWAY FROM CITRUS FLAVORS! Oh my god, they sting your throat like no tomorrow!

I don't recommend doing a fad diet ever, and I don't recommend it now especially because you're going into surgery. Just start by eating less and shooting for a reasonable calorie deficit.

smwhipple is right, don't mess around with fad diets.

I had my tonsils and adnoids removed when I was 13ish. I ate ice cream.. can't really remember what else though. Anesthesia and I don't get along, I always throw up afterwards, and that time I got it really bad and was throwing up a lot for a few days. They tell you not to eat anything red, I think so that if you do throw up you won't think the red is blood, or if there is blood you won't think it's popsicle.  No drinking through straws. I don't think I took painkillers very much. I don't like them at all. Plus after having tonsilitus I was very used to having a really sore throat all of the time, so it wasn't anything new. Haha I remember it did hurt to swallow though, so sometimes I'd just spit in a cup. But i'm sure if you actually take the drugs it won't be that bad :]

I had my tonsils out when I was 21 and it IS alot different than when you're a kid.  They also don't recommend ice cream as milk products tend to make you mucusy and stick to your throat which can make you want to cough and that can be dangerous as you are more prone to bleeding as an adult.  I only took tylenol for any pain - the first day or so was definitely the worst.

I stuck to clear fluids and popsicles the first few days and then my mom started putting everything into the blender and liquifying it (imagine liquid mac and cheese blech).  I didn't listen to the doctors about no solids and just tried to nibble on a piece of lettuce too early and started hemorraging which can lead to needing cauterizing again which isn't fun.

I wouldn't worry about trying to lose all kinds of weight before - just stick to a healthy eating plan that has you losing the recommended max 2lbs/week (or 10% of your current weight whichever is less).  I ended up losing 13 pounds recuperating on the liquid diet anyway.  Some of that would come back on as you reintroduce whole foods back on but with a balanced plan you've been following before you might even end up a bit ahead by the time you're back to normal.

Good luck.

I had mine out in fifth grade.  I remember staying home for about a week.  Then, the first day back at school we had fish sticks for lunch.  I remember not chewing them very well so they would scratch my itchy throat going down.

Hey, guys, thanks for all of your advice!

No fad diet then, just regular healthy eating and exercise, got it. :)

I don't know how I feel about blending solid foods -- I agree with the blech sentiment on the mac and cheese -- but soup broth sounds like a great idea. Also, thanks for the tips on the no-red-foods and the citrus -- those two suggestions actually makes a lot of sense.

I had some bad experiences with painkillers and I've never been in general anesthesia before, so I am a little bit worried about throwing up, too.

Hi hilegunslinger,

I promise this posting is not to dissuade you from the surgery, and you did say you are just having your tonsils out but I wanted to share that I had UPPP surgery about 8 years ago for Apnea on my doctor's recommendation.  UPPP is where they remove your tonsils, adnoids and then shorten your soft palate which removes a fair amount of tissue and your uvula.

Anyway, what the doctor did not mention is that there is something like a 60% failure rate of UPPP to help the patient.  And the discomfort it causes me in life (i.e. never let anyone make you chuckle while drinking fluids or it comes straight out of your nose..) is significant.  In the end it provided me very little relief from the apnea and snoring.

Again, I'm not a doctor - I don't even play one on TV - but make sure you ask about the success rates for surgery like this for apnea so you're fully breifed going in.  For me, I've had more relief from the 10 pounds I've dropped since actively dieting than I did in the 8 years previous after the surgery. 

I also recently invested in a mouth apparatus that pulls my jaw forward a little bit when I sleep.  That has worked very well for me, but does cause a little discomfort in the jaw.

Whatever you decide, good luck - apnea is a horrible problem.  Skip the fad diets, go for a healthy balanced calorie reduction and get out and walk twice a day and that will certainly help no matter what you do medically. 

Cheers!

oh I forgot to include that after my surgery I drank alot of the meal replacement drinks because I couldn't eat anything solid for over two weeks.  I looked for ones with a good protien content and a decent amount of calories that were not from sugar.

My grandson had his out because of possible sleep apnea.  They never actually sleep tested him, but his tonsils were very large and he often had problems with them, so they went ahead and took them out and it greatly helped with his sleep and snoring.  (He was 8)

I also have a friend at work whose son did have a sleep test and was having sleep apnea.  They removed his tonsols and when they did a foolw-up sleep test he had no apnea.  He was also 8. 

Hey, pgoldberg,

Dissuade away! lol. I have actually been thinking about NOT going through with it. I understand why this happened, but NO ONE has outright told me that I should get the surgery. My otolaryngologist basically gave me the pro's and con's, he told me that my tonsils were sufficiently big that he believed that it *might* help with the apnea, but he told me that it was my choice. He also made it very clear that I could be going through all of this for nothing.

I made the appointment for the surgery because I knew that if I thought about it I would chicken out. And I am an extremely, extremely picky sleeper. I can't even sleep on my back -- I have never been able to. So, having looked into the CPAP machine and how it works, I have very, very low hopes of me being able to live with it. Especially for the rest of my life.

It's nice to have this kind of option, but I'm not a doctor. I don't have a medical opinion over whether I should get my tonsils out.

My PCP and sleep doctor told me that the otolaryngologist would tell me what to do. He really didn't. All the doctors are washing their hands and keeping from making this decision for me. I understand why -- if the surgery doesn't fix it, I could come back and sue, etc. BUT I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO DO.

I have read all the horror stories. Recovery is extremely awful. And the only reason I haven't cancelled the appointment is because, literally, every doctor I have seen who has looked in my mouth has said "Wow, your tonsils are big." So, maybe they are big enough to cause the obstruction.

I am thinking of cancelling the surgery and taking another sleep study in a few months -- I've already dropped almost twenty pounds since the initial sleep study and if I could lose 10 - 15 more pounds maybe I won't need the surgery...

But I really don't know what to do.

lol, I'm sorry, I just really went off and let my fear and confusion do the talking. But I appreciate the words, they speak to some of the concerns I have been having.

FYI I was on a CPAP machine and it's not as uncomfortable as it sounds.. it's REALLY weird at first, but somehow you seem to get used to it.  My problem with CPAP is I have a sinus issue from when I worked in mining years ago, which caused my sinuses to completely close up during the night because of the weird airflow.  We tried a couple of nose sprays but I wound up waking up for an hour plus every night because of it and in the end gave up.

Again the information contained within is the opinion of pgoldberg only and should not be considered representative of the medical profession but if there's no medical reason other than apnia that you're having the surgery - and you're already on a weight loss program where you've had 20 pounds of success to date (WAY TO GO by the way!!) and you think you can lose more to get to a healthy weight.  You may want to consider losing the weight, having the sleep study and then considering going under the knife if the results are not positive.  Also look at neck exercises that can help reduce any double-chin stuff you may have going on because that helps put pressure on your jaw and airway at night. 

All the luck in the world to you, and I'll send you my contact info privately so you can keep in touch if you'd like..

Cheers!

Peter