Hello,
It really is true that after sleep apnea stops being the focus of your life, you just kind of fade away on the posts and blogs. I am now a little over a year post-MMA. I've had a lot of things happen since my last update, so I'll try to summarize as best I can.
As my previous posts suggest, I had some problems after my MMA. I still felt I had significant apnea disturbing my sleep, but I had one sleep study about 6 months after the MMA and at my insistence, there was another at about 9 months. Both sleep studies had the same result...And AHI of about 1. So, for all practical purposes, I was and am cured. I wasn't sleeping well at night and I even spent most of December and a good part of January sleeping on the couch. I had been in a car accident in October and had a neck injury that wasn't helped by my time on the couch. The accident wasn't related in any way by my sleeping issues as I was rear-ended by someone on a cell phone.
So, after my second post-op sleep study, I finally had to admit that my sleep issues at that point were most likely mental in nature. I think one of the biggest problems I had was the temazapam. I think it took much longer for my body to purge those chemicals than I first suspected. Also, I think sleeping badly was a learned behavior that had to be unlearned. A bad habit is hard to break.
Well, it's July now and I don't think I had really good sleep until about March 2009. So, even though I was cured, it took me a long time to really get over the issues I was having. I still have some apnea episodes that wake me up, but they don't seem to be too severe. My wife recently witnessed one of my episodes and she said I had just started snoring a little louder on my back and gave louder snore and stopped breathing for just a second and woke up right away. I still do snore, but she is able to sleep though it mostly. Also, if my nose was a little more clear, there were some nights that I didn't snore at all. Well, that leads me to the next event.
Because most of my lingering sleep problems seemed to be related to poor breathing through my nose and my mouth falling open, I decided to address the problem. I visited with the ENT that had done my UPPP, septoplasty and turbinate reduction. He did see that my turbinates had enlarged noticeably and that my septum had displaced a little. This is most likely an effect of the swelling and tubes that were such a fun part of my UPPP. So, about a month ago, I went in and had another turbinate reduction. Things have improved somewhat and my snoring seems to have lessened. My mouth still tends to fall open when I lay on my back, but I'm hoping that my body will fix that on it's own now that I can breath through my nose.
Through this entire ordeal I have been layed-off from one job, closed my business that I started after that and spent about 4 months unemployed with no unemployment benefits because I was self employed. If I had still been dealing with OSA and all of the other sleep issues, I don't think I'd have dealt with all of those things as well as I have. I have now changed gears and enrolled in classes to get a different degree and have started a new temp job that may turn to permanent. During my time off (I was telling people that I was using up my unpaid vacation) I redid my bathroom and self-studied for a new certification for my new career path and did a lot of other things that I had the energy to do now that I can sleep.
One thing I have to clarify for those contemplating surgery or any other OSA treatment...for me, there wasn't a magical change in my sleep. My life is much better than after the UPPP that made things worse. It's also better than on CPAP. CPAP did make things better, but I am much happier now. I may still feel tired on some days and still need more sleep, but figure that I probably feel like most people without apnea.
As far as healing, I still have partial numbness in my chin, mostly on the left side and some on my gums and palate on the maxilla. I have some minor TMJ issues, but they aren't any more than an annoyance at this point and are only intermittent. The only other side effect I have, and I don't know if this is just a natural change or if something caused it...My eyes tend to dry out with my contacts in. I haven't done any research on the matter, so I can't point to any cause or possible cause other than being another year older.
Well, that's pretty much the last 9 months. I will try to pop up here every so often to update, but it gets more difficult as time goes by. I know it will be of interest to people who are curious about the long-term success of MMA surgeries. If you are contemplating surgery for OSA, the single best thing you can do is research and ask questions. Get second opinions and ask more questions. Don't buy in to the first good thing you hear. There are no guarantees and beware any doctor offering anything sounding like one. Visit sleepnet.com for a long time and see what issues other folks are dealing with. This is not the time to jump in with both feet. Good luck and God Bless!
