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Good luck Jack and get well soon!!!

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Jack just wanted to wish you good luck today on your surgery for sleep apnea and hope for a speedy recovery. May you be able to count Lux's in your sleep again soon.:thumbs:
 

MrSlezak

New member
My understanding is most of the optional surgery for sleep apena includes a painful recovery - hope yours isn't one of them!
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
I had this done several years ago and it IS a nasty recovery. By the time Jack reads this hopefully that part will be over but my wife was NOT a happy camper taking care of me and i admit i was not a very nice patient. It hurt like hell
 

Lisa

New member
Best wishes for an easy recovery, Jack.

When you're feeling all better and ready to go out again, drop me a line and we'll plan another coffee hour!

Lisa
 

Bob

Administrator
Staff member
Best of luck, Jack
I'm headed for that process too I am afraid.
-bob
 

MrSlezak

New member
Every time I've asked my sleep doc's about the various surgery options they all tell me the surgery is 50% effective on most all who try… What did you guys have done (or are considering having done in Bob's case)?

--M.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
If i could spell it i would tell ya. LOL

I had my throat lasered they cut the uvula ,. Description here

Sometimes the uvula (that soft tissue hovering from the soft palate over the back of your tongue) and throat muscles become swollen, causing an obstruction when you breathe. The swelling is often resultant from nasal blockage. People suffering from nasal polyps often breathe through their mouth, pressing the uvula against the palate, causing it to swell.

Than they did a Deviated nasal septum and fixed that . Description to fix

Corrective surgery may consist of reconstruction of the nasal septum by repositioning the nasal septal cartilage, thus relieving the nasal obstruction. Other surgical procedures include rhinoplasty to correct nasal structure deformity and septoplasty to relieve nasal obstruction and enhance cosmetic appearance.

Jack is having the same as i did several years ago but i was outpatient and he is spending the night, lucky him.

I had liquid pain killers that was supposed to last 3 days, i had it gone in 12 hours. That is how much pain I was in. My wife had to beg the doctor for more. Hopefully spending the night Jack will have it much better , i certainly hope so.
 

MrSlezak

New member
I've had three sinus surgeries - which casued my sleep apena. One of those had me using the liquid painkiller; powerful stuff - but like you it went quick with me. My ENT doc suggested a uvulaectomy (sp?) to help with both the sleep apena and some of my sinus issues. But the value of multiple opnions had the sleep doctor over rulling the ENT on the grounds that it would not be effective for me on the sleep side of things. >sigh<

Thanks Guy, this was helpful...

-- M.
 
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DougDolde

Guest
Ahhh the pain of sleeping with someone else. Hey what's a little snoring?
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Well it helped cure the sleep apnea but i still snore and wake up during the night but that is me with other issues of insomnia. My issues are most likely weight and i still smoke although I have cut down a great deal still trying to quit this STUPID habit.

But sleep apnea is very dangerous because your heart actually stops and your body wakes up to kick start it. Basic description but a sleep test is something that should be done to see how bad you are. Not a doctor but that test does help figure out your issues.
 

MrSlezak

New member
I have both sleep apnea & insomnia so I live life like I'm in jet lag... It does have its advantages but they are few and very far between...

-- M.
 

bbodine9

Member
Jack I truly hope the surgery relieves all your symptoms but in my case the ENT said the use of a CPAP machine is the "gold standard" in treatment and that was the method I chose. It has been the best thing I ever did for my sleep and it is painless. For all you fellas still having issues please consider trying it, it does work as advertised! My machine was covered by insurance and it travels with me on road trips for work as needed. It can be carried on any plane as it is considered medical equipment and does not count against your carry on limit. Good luck to all.
 

MrSlezak

New member
Not to turn this in to a medical thread or CPAP support forum, but I got my first CPAP in 1992, after one of my sinus surgeries and here’s a quick upside/downside of my CPAP usage

Upsides of CPAP
- Get sleep needed and can function
- Whoever sleeps with you doesn't have to hear you snore/shake bed/etc

Downsides
- Requires you to sleep near power
-- CPAPs do not work when there is no power (e.g. backpacking/camping, power outage) and the battery pack options are not great
- Traveling with a CPAP is a hassle
-- Hotels do not always have power near the bed, so I travel with an extension cord
-- While CPAPs continue to get smaller and more compact, even the smallest of them still the size of a stack of paperback books (better than the phone book size my first one was for sure!)
-- The mask and tubing takes requires luggage space as well
-- Traveling with CPAP in suitcase runs risk of lost luggage traveling with this in carry-on in addition to juggling a carry-on for camera, lenses and laptop

- Sleeping with someone vs. alone
-- Whoever sleeps with you, sleeps with your back to them - unless they like a breeze from the outflow

The upsides outweigh the downsides by far, and I hope this doesn’t come across as an anti-CPAP endorsement but if I could move forward without needing a CPAP life would be much different for travel (personal and business,) sleeping for my wife, etc…

-- M.
 

Guy Mancuso

Administrator, Instructor
Good news just got a e-mail from Jack he is home and resting up. Seems everything went well but was uncomfortable last night. He should be on tomorrow when feeling a little more chipper.
 

ChrisDauer

Workshop Member
Jack,

Best wishes for a speedy (and painless!) recovery.


My first long term GF in college told me I had sleep apnea. She was sleeping with her head on my chest, and I stopped breathing; which woke her up. Within 20 (?) seconds or so, I started breathing again, and everything seemed okay, so she went back to sleep and told me the next morning.

I've done an O2 sat. monitor and the levels came back okay; so here is hoping!

The worst part for me about sleep apnea is just the lack of deep sleep I get because of it; and the resulting fatigue associated with the lack of a good nights sleep.
 

Jack

Sr. Administrator
Staff member
Hi Guys, and thanks for all the good wishes. I had the surgery yesterday morning and wish I could say the recovery has been easy --- unfortunatley it's about the worst thing I've ever had done to me and really painful. The problem is the pain is great and your nasal passages are totally swollen shut and your throat is so swollen that it actually causes more severe apnea. Because of that, they can't give you strong enough meds to kill the pain, lest you'd also fall into a deep sleep and NOT wake yourself out of an apnea spasm and you'd die. So bottom line is you get liquid tylenol for the worst sore throat you can possibly imagine. And since your nose is swollen shut you can only breath through your mouth, which gets dry and you have to sip water to keep it moist and swallowing those sips is major pain... I have not been asleep for more than about a one hour stretch in the past 36 hours. But, already now is a lot better --- still cannot breathe though my nose, but swallowing pain is down.

Re the C-PAP. My doc is one of the leading sleep specialists in the country --- Dr Kasey Li in Palo Alto. Anyway, he likes the C-PAP but knows most men will not use it, so the best course of attack is this surgery plus a relatively new dental device you wear at night --- basically invisiline braces that are hinged in such a way that it holds your lower jaw forward. This device coupled with the surgery opens up enough room (at least in my case) that it should alleviate the apnea. The other considerable factor for apnea is weight --- I did not have the problem to my knowledge 25 pounds ago, so it may be that my case is less severe than others.

I'll keep you all posted and thanks again for the kind thoughts!
 

Jim Stone

Workshop Member
Jack,

Just read this thread :eek: and wanted to give you my best for a speedy recovery and while I'm at it, a happy and healthier NEW YEAR ! :thumbs: Hope we can hook up somewhere in 2008, but if not, I'll certainly be lurking here.

Best Wishes,

Jim
 
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