Re: MMA Surgery & Apnea Experience (long)

[Guest guest]

That's very interesting, you're the first person that I have heard

that had the night sweats too. I've noticed that I've had a couple

of nights this last week where I had very minor night sweats, waking

in the morning to find a small area of my t-shirt soaked through.

But I'm not to worried about it as the general trend seems to be

that they are going away and its not interfering with my sleep

either.

Thanks for the note. -Ed

> >

> > Hi folks,

> >

> > Newbie here. Wow, what a great list, everyone is so friendly and

> > knowledgeable. I just found this group and wish I had known

about

> it

> > before.

> >

> > Well, I wanted to share my experience about having recently had

> > maxillofacial mandibular advancement (MMA) surgery. Upper and

lower

> > jaws moved forward, upper jaw widened a bit at the back. Had

braces

> > for a year, now the surgery, will have the braces on for another

6-

> 9

> > months.

> >

> > Primary goal of the surgery was to deal with the sleep apnea.

> > Secondary goal was to correct my bite. And my surgeon said I'd

get

> > an " incidental cosmetic enhancement " as a result of the surgery,

> > LOL!

> >

> > Apparently my lower jaw and chin were receded, but it never

really

> > bothered me until I saw my profile as compared to a

more " normal "

> > profile.

> >

> > I had the surgery on Jan. 10th of this year, about 7 weeks ago,

and

> > I think it was a success, in that I think my apnea has been

> > significantly reduced, if not eliminated. This is anecdotal,

just

> > based on how I feel and what my wife is telling me. I am

scheduled

> > for a follow-up sleep study in a couple of months and will know

> more

> > then.

> >

> > My recovery was quite difficult for the first few weeks. For

some

> > reason my swelling was very bad. I was sent home from the

hospital

> > the day after the surgery, but when I got home, my face

continued

> to

> > swell. We spoke to my surgeon a few times during the day as I

was

> > feeling like my throat was slowly constricting. He told me to

take

> > it easy and I did, but the swelling continued.

> >

> > Finally, I told my wife to call an ambulance to take me back to

the

> > hospital. It had got to the point where I was afraid if it got

any

> > worse, I wouldn't be able to breath, was having difficulties

> > swallowing. I'm sure we could have made it to the hospital if we

> had

> > just driven there, but I was afraid to take any chances. My

first

> > ride in an ambulance. When the EMT's got there, they said we did

> the

> > right thing calling them.

> >

> > My surgeon met me at the ER in the hospital, sometime after

> > midnight, and he got me admitted straight into Intensive Care.

They

> > immediately put me on an IV and got some type of steriods in me

> that

> > helped with the swelling. The ICU was great. It was like a 5

star

> > hotel. I stayed there for 2 days, then they sent me home. By the

> > time they sent me home, the swelling had gone down to more

normal

> > type swelling, and I could cope a lot better.

> >

> > Then, once I got home to start my " normal " recovery again, I

> started

> > having terrible night sweats. These lasted about 4 weeks. None

of

> my

> > docs could find a reason for them (had all kinds of tests done)

and

> > they just went away on their own. I'm wondering if it was due to

> the

> > shock to my body and all the drugs. I dropped about 20 lbs from

my

> > already skinny frame, so perhaps my body just freaked out. Well,

> > they have pretty much gone away completely, but it was pretty

rough

> > there for a few weeks when all's I wanted to do was get some

rest

> at

> > night, and I would wrestle around with my covers half the night

> > trying to regulate my body temp, then later I would wake up in a

> > cold sweat, t-shirt soaked. Thank goodness those are over.

> >

> > Like many of you have reported, I had a real hard time eating,

> > although at this point I'm eating a lot of the softer solid

foods

> > and that is great. The worst of the swelling has gone down, but

I

> > still have a bit on my right side by my lower jaw, and some

> > localized swelling around the hardware that you can't see, but I

> can

> > feel it. Good news is it seems to be going down a bit every day.

> >

> > Lots of numbness too. Especially around the chin. Its driving me

> > crazy, but again, less and less every day. Its just so slow.

> >

> > Also I too went through a couple of periods of extreme

grouchyness.

> > I was pretty bad, but my wife took it in stride.

> >

> > Inspite of all the challenges I've had, I'm pretty excited about

> the

> > idea of not having sleep apnea anymore, and having my bite

> > corrected, and getting my " incidental cosmetic enhancement " .

> >

> > And I think my experience with the extreme swelling and the

night

> > sweats is very unusual, at least that's what my surgeon told me,

so

> > I hope I am not scaring anyone. I also think the human body can

be

> > an unpredicatble thing, and what happened to me just happened.

The

> > most important thing is that I am fine now.

> >

> > And I'm even not really slurring my woods and specking li I hav

a

> > speeth a-pedimeth anymo. WHA?! U canth unner thand me?! LOL!

> >

> > Well, that's my story. Good to find this group and see that

others

> > are sharing and supporting each other.

> >

> > Ed