Re: tougher than I thought - to Steph

[Guest guest]

Hi Steph, HUGS! You're in our thoughts & prayers. What you are

describing – falling asleep and waking up feeling like you're

suffocating - sounds like sleep apnea. I have severe sleep apnea

and am having surgery this week to hopefully correct it (can't get a

CPAP mask to fit properly). Pain meds can make it worse, so if

you're taking quite a bit of pain meds, try cutting back on the

amount you're taking especially before bedtime. Pain meds relax the

muscles in the pharynx, etc.

The surgeon should be able to give you something for the nausea.

Make sure you tell surgeon about the sleep problem and the nausea.

When you're up to it I would like to here what you improvised to

keep your swollen lips open. I might need something like that as my

surgery is Thursday.

We're thinking of you.

Shirley

[Guest guest]

Steph

For some reason my reply that I posted earlier didn't post so I'll

post again:-)

What you describe as palate collapsing in on you sounds exactly like

what I had and it scared the living daylights out of me. Used to and

still does wake me up in the middle of the night because I felt like

everything was going to fall apart and collapse in on me and

suffocate me. My surgeon told me that I was the first person to ever

complain about this but he assured me that it was normal. It's the

palate bones adjusting to the new situation. Now after 2 weeks of

surgery it is getting better although ironically I am suffering more

and more from sleep insomnia but I think that might be related to

something else. And yes, sleeping straight up does help although for

some reason I can no longer manage a whole night sitting straight up,

I end up with my back flat on the bed. Very annoying. Re: hitting

your nose against the couch. Don't worry. It won't hurt it as long as

you don't hit it too hard. Our bones are tougher than we think. When

I had my nose redone years ago I used to be constantly paranoid about

hurting it by accident. When I told my doctor he told me to calm down.

I know it's hard but I promise it will get better and don't feel bad

about telling your doctor about it. The nausea is very much probably

from the meds and they do cause a loss of appetite. I am only just

beginning to get my appetite back and it's been 2 weeks!

Thinking of you.

Sara

[Guest guest]

Shirley,

We called the surgeon. My husband sure has been a trooper through

all this. He has to make all my phone calls.

the surgeon could not move my appt up today so since I have to

wait....sleep deprived and all....and since I had a " drounding

sensation " he suggested that this might be a mucus relted problem and

that I should cut the bands, try to " gather all the mucus in the back

of my throat, gagrgle with orange juice and spit it all out through

my mouth. I tried it several times and things are somewhat better

for now. I'm anxiously awaiting my 4:30 appointment.

As for the home made " lip retractors " we started out with straws

taped together...to uncomfortable...and moved on to a toy snorkle

which we trimmed down to just a mouth piece. Not real attractive but

at least I could breathe! My upper lip is still very swollen and

numb due to the rhinoplasty right after my jaw surgery.

I'm feeling much less desperate now...thank you so much for your

concern and support.

Steph.

> Hi Steph, HUGS! You're in our thoughts & prayers. What you are

> describing – falling asleep and waking up feeling like you're

> suffocating - sounds like sleep apnea. I have severe sleep apnea

> and am having surgery this week to hopefully correct it (can't get

a

> CPAP mask to fit properly). Pain meds can make it worse, so if

> you're taking quite a bit of pain meds, try cutting back on the

> amount you're taking especially before bedtime. Pain meds relax

the

> muscles in the pharynx, etc.

>

> The surgeon should be able to give you something for the nausea.

>

> Make sure you tell surgeon about the sleep problem and the nausea.

>

> When you're up to it I would like to here what you improvised to

> keep your swollen lips open. I might need something like that as

my

> surgery is Thursday.

>

> We're thinking of you.

>

> Shirley

[Guest guest]

Thanks !

We spoke with him by phone and he thought it may be mucus so we tried

this orange juice thing that I posted about in a previous message...I

am definately going to speak with him about the palate issue though.

I just really need to know that this is all temporary and that I did

not just trade in one set of problems for a whole new set! I'm very

much looking forward to my appointment and then a nap! I'll keep

everyone updated.

thanks so much. I'm running on pure adrenalin now...

Steph.

> Steph

>

> For some reason my reply that I posted earlier didn't post so I'll

> post again:-)

>

> What you describe as palate collapsing in on you sounds exactly

like

> what I had and it scared the living daylights out of me. Used to

and

> still does wake me up in the middle of the night because I felt

like

> everything was going to fall apart and collapse in on me and

> suffocate me. My surgeon told me that I was the first person to

ever

> complain about this but he assured me that it was normal. It's the

> palate bones adjusting to the new situation. Now after 2 weeks of

> surgery it is getting better although ironically I am suffering

more

> and more from sleep insomnia but I think that might be related to

> something else. And yes, sleeping straight up does help although

for

> some reason I can no longer manage a whole night sitting straight

up,

> I end up with my back flat on the bed. Very annoying. Re: hitting

> your nose against the couch. Don't worry. It won't hurt it as long

as

> you don't hit it too hard. Our bones are tougher than we think.

When

> I had my nose redone years ago I used to be constantly paranoid

about

> hurting it by accident. When I told my doctor he told me to calm

down.

>

> I know it's hard but I promise it will get better and don't feel

bad

> about telling your doctor about it. The nausea is very much

probably

> from the meds and they do cause a loss of appetite. I am only just

> beginning to get my appetite back and it's been 2 weeks!

>

> Thinking of you.

>

> Sara

[Guest guest]

Hi Steph, Glad you got an appt. today. Hope you're doing better when

you read this. I'll have to remember the orange juice mouth wash!

> As for the home made " lip retractors " we started out with straws

> taped together...to uncomfortable...and moved on to a toy snorkle

> which we trimmed down to just a mouth piece.

Isn't necessity the mother of invention! I'll have to see if I can find

a toy snorkle .

Hang in there, we're all in the same boat - just different types of

boats.

Shirley

[Guest guest]

thank you Shirley! I'm in a much better place today. it took some

mild tranqulizers but hey....whatever it takes right?? so here I sit 8

days post op and already I can feel the majority of my cheeks. I'm

still very numb on my upperlip and at least one inch away from both

sides of my nose. I'm hot, cold compressing and arnica jelling like a

fool! thanks for being there for me in my sleep deprived state.

Steph.

> Hi Steph, Glad you got an appt. today. Hope you're doing better

when

> you read this. I'll have to remember the orange juice mouth wash!

>

> > As for the home made " lip retractors " we started out with straws

> > taped together...to uncomfortable...and moved on to a toy snorkle

> > which we trimmed down to just a mouth piece.

>

> Isn't necessity the mother of invention! I'll have to see if I can

find

> a toy snorkle .

>

> Hang in there, we're all in the same boat - just different types of

> boats.

>

> Shirley